And There Will Be Cake
by wildfire280
Summary: For Mercedes and Finn, every song has a story. This is now going to be a collection of Finncedes drabbles. Feel free to review with prompt/song suggestions!
1. To Sir With Love

**Author's Notes: **Just wanted to write some Finncedes fanfiction. For all the little moments they had together, they really should have more fans.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Glee or any of its characters.

Finally, he had something to do. Finn worked quickly to create the playlist that would play throughout the wedding reception, saving songs onto his computer from their favorite CDs. Maybe he would be able to get it done before Mercedes came over to the apartment. He glanced up at the clock hanging above him on the wall. He'd been adding song after song for at least an hour and she would be there any moment.

Finn turned at the sound of someone knocking on his door, standing as he groaned. Mercedes raised an eyebrow at the scowl he had on his face when he opened the door for her. "And here I was thinking you'd be happy to have something to do for your own wedding, you know, other than show up. What's that face for?"

He gave her a peck on the lips and shook his head. "Sorry, babe. I'm just frustrated that I can't show you the finished product yet. There's just too many songs to choose from."

She walked over to his computer to look at his progress. "Well, here's one song you don't have to worry about anymore." She used the mouse to click on a song toward the middle of the incomplete playlist.

He chuckled when he saw which song she was talking about. "Really? No _Run Joey Run_? But it's such a classic. Besides, all the glee club will be there. It'll be like one big private joke."

"Oh it'll be a joke alright. Take it off." Mercedes watched him sit back down in his desk chair and stood behind him with her hands on his shoulders. "_To Sir With Love_, huh? Isn't that a little depressing? Last time I heard that song was…wasn't that when glee club was about to be disbanded?"

"Disbanded. Terminated. I think Coach Sylvester described it as The Glee Club's Almost-Annihilation." Finn shrugged. "I just remember it being the first time we sang together."

Mercedes's eyes softened as she looked down at her fiancée.

_Kurt leaned back against the stage from his place standing on the auditorium floor. "We've got to divide parts. Who gets…?"_

_Rachel raised her hand and shifted excitedly in her seat. Santana rolled her eyes. "Put your hand down, Hobbit. It's after school and we all know you're going to make us listen to you anyway." _

_Rachel dropped her hand, smoothing out her skirt before standing and facing the other glee club members who all sat close by in the empty auditorium. "I believe that I should sing the first verse. And the consequent verse. In fact, all of the verses of this song should be sung by the same person so I am willing to sing those too."_

_"Of course you are," Kurt muttered, making eye contact with Mercedes who was sitting behind Rachel._

_From his seat beside the now standing Rachel, Finn followed Kurt's gaze to the diva. She and Quinn were chuckling at the look of pure disdain on Kurt's face. Before glee club, he'd never really talked to Mercedes Jones but he had always noticed her. It was kind of hard not to notice someone who wears multicolor zebra hoodies. But Finn knew that past the loud voice and loud clothes, Mercedes was loyal and real, attributes that were very rare in McKinley High School. And she was incredibly easy to work with. At least easier to work with than Rachel was. Practicing Good Vibrations with her and Puck in his living room was actually one of the most fun nights he had ever had. Rachel may have been one of the captains of New Directions but Mercedes was just as much a leader, willing to go the extra mile from the beginning._

_Suddenly he found himself saying, "Rachel and Mercedes should share the first verse." Everyone turned to look at him. Rachel's jaw dropped and Mercedes's eyes widened. Really? Was she not used to having the spotlight at all? Finn raised a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. "I just think it would be nice for us to share verses with each other. We're a team. Even though...this might be the last time we do anything together…"_

_Rachel stared at him for a few more minutes before she slowly sank down into her seat. Up by the stage with Kurt, Artie rolled forward in his wheelchair a few inches. "Could we do some duets? I would…really like to sing with Tina." Tina raised her eyes quickly to meet his, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. _

_Santana tossed her ponytail after a glance at Brittany. "I want my own verse. I'm okay with not doing anything with any of you after this club is over."_

_Brittany nodded. "Me too." Mercedes chuckled softly from behind the two cheerleaders._

_"I'd like to sing with Mercedes somewhere in the song." Her gaze snapped to Finn. He shrugged. "If she wouldn't mind."_

_Rachel turned to Mercedes, eyes narrowed. "Do you mind, Mercedes?"_

_She kept her eyes on Finn, searching his face as if trying to figure out what he was thinking. Slowly, the girl shook her head. "Nah. That would be okay."_

_Finn ignored the glare that Rachel was aiming at him. He gave Mercedes a small smile. "Cool."_

Mercedes leaned down to kiss Finn's cheek. "_To Sir With Love_ can stay. There are some good memories there."

Finn turned his head so he could capture her lips with his own. "Most of the songs make me think of good memories," he said when they had pulled apart.

She smiled, letting her gaze wander over all of the songs on the playlist so far. He was right.


	2. Call Your Girlfriend

**Based on "Call Your Girlfriend" by Robyn (which I don't own). Part One.**

**Finn**

"I don't know why you thought this would be a good idea for a night out. We get one last night in New York before the tour starts and this was where you wanted to spend it." Rachel leaned forward in her chair on the opposite side of the round dining table, glancing around the crowded New York restaurant in disdain before glaring at her boyfriend of six years.

Finn raised his eyebrows. "You act like we're sitting in a little hole-in-the-wall, Rachel. This is a prestigious club and it's one of the city's most popular spots. And there's supposed to be a great singer taking the stage any minute now. You love live performances." Or at least she loved her own live performances.

As though she could hear his inner thoughts, Rachel's glare intensified. "I have a Tony Award, Finn." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "_These_ people don't look they've ever even been to a Broadway musical. Or know who Barbra is. Or listen to Sondheim. Or…"

"Because they're in a jazz club?"

She blinked. "…Yes. Because they're in a jazz club."

"So you're determined not to enjoy yourself because people here may not know your name. Or fall all over you for autographs."

Rachel settled back in her chair and crossed her arms against her narrow chest. "Next time you just _have_ to make reservations for one of our dates, how about choosing a place that we'll both enjoy? Okay, Finn?"

He rolled his eyes and took a sip from his wineglass. "I'll keep that in mind." He barely kept himself from audibly sighing in relief when their waiter came by. Once the older man had their orders, Finn asked, "So who's going to be singing today? When I called in, they just said it was a special guest."

The waiter grinned and stepped closer to their table conspiringly. "We're already filled the brim most nights so we didn't want to advertise but…Grammy winner Mercedes Jones is gonna be singing a set!"

Finn smiled. "I think I caught part of one of her singles on the radio the other day. She's really good. Won Best Album, right?"

"That's right."

Rachel raised an eyebrow, thoroughly unimpressed. "I've never heard of her."

"You will have after tonight," Finn muttered behind clenched teeth. The waiter chuckled and went to put in their order. Finn shook his head disbelievingly. "Tact, Rachel. Tact."

Rachel frowned. "What about tact?"

He glanced toward the club's stage as a man began announcing Mercedes Jones, looking back at Rachel with a grimace. "I'm just wondering if you ever had it."

"Finn Hudson, you…!"

"Good evening, everybody." His gaze snapped back up to the stage at the sound of the singer's melodic voice. He slowly lowered his glass to the table. From her curvy figure wrapped in a black Emilio Pucci creation that hit her just above her knees to the Brian Atwood pumps on her feet, Mercedes Jones was a vision. She grasped the microphone stand between her hands and gave a nod to her pianist to begin playing the introduction. "We're just gonna slow things down a little bit here at The Blue Note. How's _Don't Make Me Over_ sound to ya'll?" The diners clapped loudly as a sign of their approval. She chuckled. "Alright then. Enjoy."

Rachel looked from the woman on stage to her boyfriend, her eyebrows furrowing when she saw the captivation in his eyes. "Excuse me. Finn. Hello? _Hello_?"

Captivation abruptly turned to irritation when he turned to her. "What?"

"Remember who you came here with? Me. You're practically drooling!" She rolled her eyes. "They give out Grammys like party favors nowadays."

**Mercedes**

Mercedes gave one last wave to the diners and stepped down off of the stage. Her manager/best friend since high school, Mike Chang met her near the bar. "Good job. Sorry again that I couldn't get the violins to meet us here."

"I think it sounded fine with just the piano."

His jet-black eyebrows rose when he noticed her constantly glancing over her shoulder while taking a seat. Mike followed her gaze. "Are you looking at the giant or his girl with the big nose?"

"The giant," Mercedes answered before she caught herself. She closed her eyes and shook her head firmly. "No. Not the giant. Nobody. I'm not looking. He's not that tall, is he?"

Mike eyed the five-foot-three diva, nodding with a grin. "He's about as tall as you are short. Why's he getting all your attention tonight?"

She had seen the way the man had looked at his companion. He was unhappy, and, hell, if he was unhappy, going by appearances his girlfriend was downright miserable. But it was the way he had gazed up at her that had made Mercedes continue looking his way during her set. Her voice was powerful; whenever she sang, people looked at her with amazement. His almond-shaped brown eyes had been filled with something more, something she hadn't seen in far too long. Pure adoration.

Cheeks flushing even under the dim lighting of the club; Mercedes requested a glass of Moscato from the bartender and shrugged. "He just got my attention up there, that's all."

"Is this one of your problems 'Tana keeps harping about?"

Mercedes snorted. "You mean my need-to-get-laid problems? Doubtful." Her hand connected with his bicep in a hearty slap. "And you and Santana need to get out of my business."

"We're just looking out for you." He nodded to the bartender when the man returned with her drink, placing money on the bar for the tequila shot he'd drank while she was on the stage and for her wine. "Thanks, man. Enjoy the rest of your night."

"Hold up who's going anywhere?"

Mike looked back at his concerned friend, decidedly unconcerned. "_I'm_ going somewhere. Don't worry I'll catch a cab. You can drive my car. Or he can. Whatever works out better."

"Who…?"

"Mercedes Jones?"

She turned around with wide eyes. "…Hi there."

**To be continued….**

**(What do you think should happen next?) Review!**


	3. Fireworks

**Based on Drake's "Fireworks" (which I don't own). This one's a lot more angsty than I'm used to but I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the song suggestion, blueberry24! **

**The lyrics are a bit jumbled to better suit the flow of the story.**

_**Searching for that feeling, tell me where is the magic?**_

_**Let's stay together 'til we're ghosts**_

_**I want to witness love; I've never seen it close**_

_**Yeah, but I guess I gotta find it first, that's why I'm really going off**_

_**Fireworks!**_

"I'm only here for the week."

Mercedes kept her eyes closed, listening for the familiar sounds of a morning after. Finn swinging his legs over the side of her bed. His sharp intake of breath when his feet hit the cold wooden floor instead of the wool rug that lay just inches further. His footsteps as he walked around the room picking up articles of clothing that had been discarded with carefree abandon the night before.

No kisses. No gentle whispers of 'Good morning' or 'I love you'. No intimacy. Always pretending that what they did meant nothing.

Maybe it did mean nothing. She nodded curtly. "Only here for the week. Got it."

"Don't do that, Mercedes."

Her eyes snapped open; she sat up with a frown, leaning back on her elbows. "I'm sorry. I thought I was being low maintenance. Compliant. Supportive."

"Stop it." Finn was standing at the foot of the bed looking down at her naked body in that detached way he looked at everything else. He blinked once and the detachment was replaced with exasperation. "Whenever you talk like that…you make me sound like I'm a bad person. Like I'm forcing this life on everyone. I didn't ask for…"

"Oh God, _please_ don't act like a victim." She grabbed for an edge of bed sheet and covered her breasts almost as an afterthought. "We get it. You're famous now. You didn't _ask_ to be discovered. You don't _ask_ to be in the tabloids. You're doing the best by us. We _get_ it, Finn. The constant reminders aren't necessary."

Finn wrestled on his pants, glaring out of her expansive bedroom window at the far-off view of the Moraine Lake. It had taken its time to ice over that year but now reflected the sunlight brilliantly off of its hard surface. He looked back to Mercedes, almost resenting the beautiful way the Canadian morning light was causing her brown skin to glow. She always looked her most beautiful in the morning. "What do you care anyway? You get to live in this house with my mom. No one's bothering you two. You have housekeepers. Cooks. _Fantastic_ scenery."

"Why do I care? I care because I have to read about all your little girlfriends in the magazines. I have to hear all the speculation of who you're dating now and where you took her on vacation. And don't forget _why_ I live here with your mother. She's lonely. You moved her out of Bonnyville, away from her family, and she wanted a friendly face. It was just my luck to be a childhood friend of yours that she actually likes." Mercedes hopped out of the bed, walked over to her closet, and pulled on her robe.

He was right behind her when she turned around. Mercedes allowed him to pull her close by tugging on her robe's ties. "What do you want from me, 'Cedes?"

"I want this to mean something." The top of her head only coming to the middle of his chest, she got up on her tip-toes and planted a cold kiss on his collarbone. "I want to go back to the time when we meant something to each other."

_**Money just changed everything; I wonder how life without it would go**_

_**From the concrete who knew that a flower would grow?**_

"Your father called this morning." Carol Hudson watched her son as he went to her stainless steel refrigerator, grimacing when he pulled out the orange juice and began drinking directly from the carton. "I'm glad I listened to Mercedes when she said to have Lucinda get you your own orange juice the last time she went grocery shopping. You're a grown man, Finn. Do you _have_ to do that?"

"Once again, Mercedes is right about me," Finn muttered. He replaced the carton in the fridge and leaned over the kitchen island to give her a peck on the cheek. "And what did Dad want?"

Wondering for a moment why Mercedes hadn't come downstairs for breakfast yet, Carol glanced toward the ceiling while she answered. "He wanted the usual things. For you to call him back for once. For you to let him be in your life."

Finn shook his head. "He wants money, Mom. If he really wanted anything to do with me, he wouldn't have asked you for a divorce when I was five because he didn't want the responsibility of providing for a kid."

"That's not why…!"

"Why do you want him in our lives so badly anyway? I don't remember you being that bothered when he left. I don't even think _I_ was upset."

She looked up at her son and reached over the kitchen island to hold his hand, barely noticing anymore that he tensed whenever she or anyone else tried to touch him. "He lives in New York, you know. You'd have someone there to…"

"Like you said, Mom, I'm thirty-two years old. I don't need my daddy to look out for me in the big, bad city."

Carol winced at his condescending tone. "Having someone to look out for you isn't a bad thing, Finn Hudson. It would be nice for you to have family close to you. You barely come back home. You visit maybe once a year, stay for a week at the most, and then never call. You've got a girl here who's just waiting for you to…"

"Don't bring Mercedes into this." Finn turned back to his mother from checking the text messages on his cellphone.

"One day she's going to get tired of waiting for you to come to your senses. Put that phone down and listen to me!" She waited until he had begrudgingly stuck his phone back into his pants pocket to continue. "When exactly are you planning to put that girl out of her misery? We both know you love her; there's no use fighting that anymore. I don't know what happened. You two used to be inseparable and now you barely speak even when you're both staying in the same house."

Finn snickered. "Trust me. We talk."

"What you two do is _not_ talking…"

"Don't worry about it, Ms. Hudson." They both turned to see Mercedes coming down the stairs. Finn's brows furrowed as he watched her set down the bag she'd been carrying on the bottom stair with a soft thud. She chuckled wryly at his confused expression. "It's called leaving, Finn. C'mon, you've done it enough times to know what it looks like."

_**All in all, I learned a lesson from it though**_

_**You never see it coming, you just get to see it go**_

_**Yeah, I shoulda looked up in the sky at first**_

_**Now I can see it in her eyes**_

_**Fireworks**_

He was in front of her in an instant. "Get upstairs and unpack now, Mercedes. You're not leaving."

Mercedes tugged on the hem of her burgundy cashmere sweater and then looked up at him, unfazed. "Oh I'm going back upstairs, Finn. There are three more bags up there to bring down. And then I'm getting out of here. I'm going to get out of here and get my life back. 'Cause I'm not waiting for you anymore." She smiled apologetically at Carol before turning to make a second trip to her room.

Finn followed closely behind her, his hand lifting to grasp her arm and then falling back to his side. "What's gotten into you?"

When they reached the bedroom, Mercedes squatted down by the bag closest to the door and zipped it. She shook her head. "You really are surprised, aren't you? You thought this was actually what I wanted. Always waiting. Getting as little of you as possible while those people out there get as much as they want." She straightened and faced him so fast that Finn took a step back. Her finger jabbed him in the chest. "I was there when you _got_ your big break, remember? I went with you to every single audition. I encouraged you each and every time your agent called to tell you that you didn't get the part. And as soon as you made it…you pushed me away."

He placed his hands on either side of her waist, holding her where she was. "Come with me to New York."

"Come with you?" Her eyes widened.

"No more waiting. Come with me. Live in my penthouse. We'll start again. Together." Mercedes searched his face in silence, slowly taking in what he was proposing. Finn sighed. "I never expected you to stick with me. And I thought if you were being loyal, it was because you wanted something from me. These fifteen minutes of fame…" He looked off somewhere above her head. "I don't know what's real anymore and I lost sight of what used to be important and true in my life."

They regarded each other in silence. Mercedes finally tore her gaze away to glance down at her luggage still lying at their feet. "We do need to start again." Finn let out a puff of air, suddenly relieved. That feeling left as soon as she turned back and he saw the look in her eyes. She took his hands from her waist and held them to her chest for a moment before releasing them. "My cab should be here any minute to take me to the airport in Banff. I need be ready."

"I love you! You know that!" He sidestepped to get in front of her as she moved to grab her bags.

"No, I _don't_ know that." She ran her hand quickly through the black waves of her hair. "That's the problem, see? That's why I have to go. I don't know that. And I shouldn't be expected to stay and figure out if what you're saying is real. It is the first time you've said it after all. I've waited how many years to hear you say those words...and _now_ you say them."

"I mean them. Mercedes..."

The harsh beeping of a horn caused them both to jump. Mercedes walked over to the window and peered down at the yellow cab parked in Carol Hudson's driveway. The driver got out, rubbed his hands together against the chill in the air, and went to unlock the trunk. She nodded to no one in particular. "I'm excited to do this. I don't know where I'll go but I'm glad to be going. I have a few dreams of my own that could use a little fulfilling." She whirled around as though suddenly remembering that Finn was in the room. "Could you help me get the rest of my things downstairs?"

He answered by bending and picking up two of the bags. "That's a long drive to the airport, Mercedes. Do you…?"

"Are you about to offer to come with me?"

"Just to the airport. I won't cause a scene when you go...I just want a little more time with you. If that's all right."

"That sounds fine. I would love some company, Finn." She smiled, walking over to grab her last piece of luggage and squeezing his hand briefly as she passed by.

Finn stood at the top of the stairs watching her for a moment before beginning to follow. That had been her first real smile to him in years and, even though it hurt to admit it, the change was for the best. So he would let her go.

But one day, he would show her that he meant every word he said.

_**All I see is fireworks **_

_**All I see is fireworks**_

**Feel free to review and to give me prompts/song suggestions!**


	4. Maybe I'm Amazed

**Based on Jem's cover of Paul McCartney's classic "Maybe I'm Amazed". Thank you for the song suggestion, IslandGem! **

**This one was super hard to write because of the subject matter but for some reason this was what came to mind while I listened to the song. **

_**Maybe I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time**_

_**Maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you**_

_**Maybe I'm amazed at the way you pulled me out of time**_

_**And hung me on a line**_

_**Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you**_

Finn checked his watch and leaned once more against the downstairs banister. "Any time now, beautiful. The driver's waiting."

His wife's voice floated down from the master bedroom. "I'm coming! It's a lot harder than you'd think to put on shoes when you're this size."

He held back an amused chuckle, opening the front door to gesture to the man outside that they would need a few more minutes and calling up to her as he closed it again, "Hold on. I'm coming up."

"Oh. That's great. My husband has to come help me dress now. I'm pathetic."

Finn walked briskly to the room, only pausing to erase his grin from his face. She was an actress after all. Dramatics were her forte. He used his fingertips to push open the door. "You're eight months pregnant, Mercedes. Cut yourself some slack, will you?"

"I'm a whale." She was sitting on the edge of the bed, craning her neck to see over her baby bump long enough to fasten the straps on the Louboutin pump she had finally gotten onto her foot.

He came over to the bed and kneeled in front of her, stilling her frantically moving hands by placing his much larger ones over them. "If you're a whale, you are the most gorgeous whale I've ever seen." Finn winced after a beat of silence passed between them. "That…that didn't come out the way I really wanted it to."

"Oh I hope it didn't."

He made short work of fastening both shoes, rising from his knees to gently pull her to her feet. "You really should be resting tonight. Are you sure about this?"

Slightly swaying for a moment while she got her bearings, Mercedes gasped. "I'm nominated for an Emmy. How could I miss it?"

"Probably the same way I've been trying to get you to miss half the stuff you've forced yourself to go to. Call in and tell them you won't be attending." With one hand on the small of her back supporting her, Finn brought his other hand to gently rub her belly. "You've already been running yourself ragged, working all throughout the pregnancy. This little guy could probably use the rest just as much as you could. Besides, in my opinion, you've already won."

She glanced down at his hand. "Do we have to argue about this or can we go? I'm sure the driver is sick of waiting by now."

"Jerry's had five kids. I think he'll understand the basic shoe emergency. Is there any chance of you changing your mind?"

"Not a chance."

"Then I guess there's no point in arguing. Where's your purse?" He grabbed her clutch from its place on her nightstand and half-ran to catch up with her as she started down the stairs, pretending not to be bothered when she refused his help along the way.

_**Maybe I'm a girl and maybe I'm a lonely girl**_

_**Who's in the middle of something**_

_**That she doesn't really understand**_

"Mercedes! Turn this way, Mercedes!"

"Who designed your dress?"

"When's the baby due? Have you picked out names?'

"Boy or girl?"

"How did you react to the news that you were nominated for Best Supporting Actress after only your first season on the show?"

"Finn! How would you describe your wife during her pregnancy?"

Finn leaned into Mercedes and stage-whispered, "Can I tell the truth?" The photographers surrounding them on the red carpet tittered.

"You'd better not," she hissed back at him, the smile pasted on her face for the cameras never faltering.

"Mercedes' pregnancy has been quite the adventure. I'm loving every minute of it." He ignored the look she gave him. The media would play their banter off as a joke between the loving couple. They always did.

But it didn't feel like a joke. Not anymore. His gaze drifted down to his wife's curvy yet petite frame. She wasn't the same person anymore. He had fallen in love with her fire, the way she loved so passionately. Now her passion was her work wholly and completely. He was in the background. The baby was in the background. The last month of filming, which was also her seventh month of pregnancy, he found her poring over her scripts in the wee hours of the morning, drinking so much coffee to stay awake that he swore she had stock in Starbucks.

He let his hand put a little pressure on her back, smiling good-naturedly at those around them as Mercedes waved and made her way down the carpet. She let out a groan as soon as they were far enough away and he frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just some pressure." She scanned the reporters waiting for interviews. "I'll be over there talking to E!Online. They panned my character in reviews so many times it's about time that they gave me some good press."

"If you're in pain, we should skip the interviews and go inside." Finn's frown only deepened as he noticed her hand rubbing slow circles against her stomach.

"I'm not in pain, Finn. I'm feeling pressure. If I were in pain I would say I was in pain and…" Mercedes' hand abruptly shot up to grasp his arm with a strength he didn't know she had.

"What…?"

"Oh my God, that's blood. She's bleeding!"

Finn glanced toward the reporter that had made the outburst, quickly noting that several eyes were now pointed in their direction before stepping forward a bit to look down the front of his wife's ivory Oscar de la Renta dress. A red stain was blossoming below her belly.

He wrapped his arms around her just as she began to drop to the ground.

_**Maybe I'm a girl and maybe you're the only man **_

_**Who could ever help me**_

_**Baby, won't you help me understand**_

_She was dreaming again. Dreams of annoyed glances and ruined dresses and apologies from a doctor that didn't know what else to say. Dreams of screamed words and locked doors and bags packed so hastily that essentials like hair wraps and toothbrushes were forgotten. She hated dreaming._

_ She had demanded that Finn take her home from the hospital the next evening despite the doctor's firm suggestion that they stay another 24 hours for observation. She couldn't see a point to staying any longer and she needed to get away from all of the sympathetic looks, all of the fans that snuck past the security guards to give her their most sincere apologies for how things had worked out promptly followed by their congratulations on her Emmy win. Finn hadn't argued with her; he spoke briefly with the doctor outside of her room, came back inside, and started getting their belongings together. _

_ He didn't speak to her until that evening when she took a phone call from her agent. Finn had come up behind her just as she was answering and grabbed the phone, ending the call with a click before tossing the phone onto their sofa. He looked down at her with red-rimmed eyes that made her realize that she hadn't even cried yet. "No work. Not now."_

_ "I can't just stop…!"_

_ "Yes you can and yes you will." He ran his hands through his hair roughly. "God, Mercedes…do you even care? Did you ever care?"_

_ She lifted a shaking finger and took a step back from him. "That's not fair."_

_ "Not fair? So you wanna talk about fairness? Okay, let's talk about fairness, Mercedes."_

_ "Finn..."_

_ "All I wanted was to have a family with you, the woman I love. And we were going to have that family."_

_ "Finn, stop!"_

_ "My baby is dead! How's that for fairness?" Finn turned away from her, tilting his face up toward the ceiling and blinking back his tears. "I thought you wanted a family, Mercedes. Remember all those nights we stayed up before you joined that stupid show just talking about it?"_

_ "It's not a stupid show…it's my dream."_

_ "Being a mother used to be your dream. I should have realized that you didn't want that anymore."_

_ Mercedes' eyebrows furrowed. "I wanted that baby, Finn. I wanted that baby just as much as you did."_

_ "Then why does it seem like you tried your hardest to make sure he never had a chance?" Her eyes widened and she lifted a hand to cover her mouth as she choked back a sob. Finn's hands clenched into fists on either side of his body. He turned back toward her with a shake of his head. "I didn't mean that. I'm sorry, Mercedes…I didn't mean that." He stepped forward._

_ She jerked out of his embrace and placed a hand firmly against his chest to push him further away. "You can go straight to hell."_

Mercedes could only find one real downside to staying at Santana and Brittany's apartment and sleeping on their couch: the alarm clock. Groaning groggily, she opened one eye. Sure enough, there was a cat perched on the arm rest, looming over her pillow and preparing to give her face another lick.

"Brittany!" She winced as her voice came out as a croaky growl. "Could you come get this damn cat?"

Lord Tubbington gave her a look that could only be described as indignant and jumped off of the couch so suddenly that Mercedes sat up straight for a split second before lying down once more.

"Lord Tubbington wants to know if you'll reconsider his offer to go out for a drink sometime." Standing in the doorway, Brittany raised one leg to allow the cat to pass underneath. "I told him you weren't really available but…that just made him more persistent."

Mercedes flipped over to lie on her back and buried her face in the pillow that had been set out for her stay on the Lopez-Pierce couch. "Tell him thanks but no thanks. I'm not interested."

"I'll try to relay the message. Are you hungry? Santana's making waffles."

She raised herself onto her elbows and looked toward the kitchen area of the apartment, the smell of breakfast finally wafting over. "Waffles would be amazing. Thanks."

Santana turned around from impatiently staring at the griddle; she wiped a batter-streaked finger on the Head Bitch in Charge apron around her waist. "Better get freshened up. They'll be done any minute now."

Brittany sniffed the fresh flowers in the vase at the center happily as Mercedes returned from the bathroom. "It's a beautiful day, 'Cedes. Are you sure you don't want to go to the park with me later? I'm teaching a geriatric yoga class. You could bring a book and get some relaxing reading in. Or you could join us!"

She gathered napkins for the three of them, sidestepping Santana to reach for the silverware. "Well that all sounds…fantastic. But I'm not really ready to get out there yet."

Santana handed her the plate stacked high with waffles. Her hand reached up to let down her long black hair from the ponytail she had put it in while she cooked. "It's been a month. The media's moved on. I haven't seen a single story on you lately. You don't have to hide out anymore. You never had to."

"I'm just not ready." Mercedes pulled a chair out and sat. "And I'm not hiding."

"Oh. Right. You're just avoiding."

"Santana." Brittany placed a hand on her wife's shoulder with a shake of her head. They both took a seat.

Santana leaned forward in her chair to stab a waffle with her fork. "He called again this morning, you know."

Mercedes' heart skipped a beat. It always did that when Finn was mentioned for some reason. "Did you answer the phone?"

"Of course. You know I hate to leave him hanging."

"Wouldn't want that," Mercedes whispered. She slowly reached for the syrup and drizzled it on her waffle, passing it along to Brittany when she finished. When it became clear that Santana wasn't continuing without prompting, she sighed. "How is Finn?"

"Finnocence is doing just fine considering his wife ran away after having a miscarriage on the red carpet. _Really_?" Santana rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "You're both miserable, 'Cedes. He wants to come over here and..."

"He blamed me for our baby's death." Mercedes set her fork down, hand trembling. "He basically said that I killed our baby with all of the stress and the long hours from the show. He said that I never really wanted the baby."

"Was he right?"

"No! It just…It just wasn't the right time. I mean, I had just started the show and things were going really well with both of our jobs. We weren't even trying to get pregnant and then I _was_. But it wasn't a good time." She wiped at the hot tears spilling down her cheeks with the back of her hands. "I couldn't slow down. The show was getting amazing reviews and people really liked my character. The producers had my pregnancy written into the show _just_ so they could keep me. And Finn kept telling me to slow down but I just kept telling him that I was fine…but it wasn't fine." Mercedes squeezed the hand that Brittany held out to her over the table. "Finn was right. This is all my fault."

"I don't blame you."

She hadn't even heard the apartment door open and close. Mercedes stood quickly from the kitchen table, still holding Brittany's hand for support. "Finn…what are you doing here?"

Santana glanced between the husband and wife. "Remember how I said he kept wanting to come over and see you? Well, I told him to come over and see you. You two can use our bedroom to talk if you want. Just don't do anything wanky."

He nodded, not taking his eyes off of his wife. "Can we talk, Mercedes?"

_**Maybe I'm amazed at the way you're with me all the time**_

_**Maybe I'm afraid of the way I leave you**_

_**Maybe I'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song**_

_**Right me when I'm wrong**_

Finn watched Mercedes hesitantly take a seat beside him on the bed. There was a good foot of space between them and her gaze was trained on the floor. Still, he almost sighed in relief when she finally raised those large, brown doll eyes to his face and he had to resist the urge to take her into his arms. "I missed you." He almost winced at how simple that was. A full month of not seeing his wife, worrying about her constantly, wanting to hold her and whisper how sorry he was over and over and over again and that was all that came out.

"I missed you too." She could've sat a little closer to him at least. Mercedes eyed the space and then decided against it. He said he wanted to talk. That didn't mean he wanted a reunion. She cleared her throat and clasped her hands together in her lap. "How have you been?"

"It's been a long four weeks, 'Cedes. For those first few days I didn't have a clue where you could've gone. You didn't tell anyone where you were going to go, not even your agent. I didn't know if you were safe, if you had left for good…if you hated me."

"I thought _you_ hated _me_."

Finn took a deep breath and stood from the bed, moving to crouch in front of her. "I could _never_. If I could take back what I said to you...If I could just take it all back, you know I would in a heartbeat. I never meant to make you feel as though the baby's death was your fault. I was angry and sad and…" She reached out a hand to cup his face; he leaned into her touch. "All I wanted to do was hold you but I didn't know if you'd even want me to."

They searched each other's eyes in silence. Not breaking the contact, Mercedes slowly lowered herself to kneel in front of her husband on the floor. Her whole body began to shudder. "It hurts, Finn."

"Oh honey…I know." He wrapped his arms around her until she was pressed against his chest. "Let me take you home, okay? No more running away. Let me take care of you."

She closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes. I'd like that."

_**Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you**_

**Feel free to review and to give me prompts/song suggestions!**


	5. No Stopping Us

**Took me a while to find the perfect song for a one-shot of Finncedes as a power couple in high school but eventually I decided to base this chapter on Jason Mraz's "No Stopping Us". Thanks for the prompt!**

_**Would it take a baker's dozen to get my point to you?**_

_**Would it take half a pound to roll a joint for you?**_

_**Would it take some Hail Mary's so full of grace to get my sound to you?**_

_**Will you help me break it down and get on through?**_

_ "Were you the douchebag that did it?"_

_ Finn slowly lowered his hand from the bathroom door and turned on his heel, looking from one end of the deserted hallway to the other before staring at the girl in front of him. _

_ She narrowed her eyes at his silence and stood from her seat on the hallway floor. He tilted his head to the side, grabbing the collar of his football jersey and lifting it to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. Leopard print leggings. Didn't know they made those. Her eyes narrowed even further when she noticed his casual perusal of her clothes. "Look, if you're about to go in there and give my boy Kurt more trouble, I'll take you to the carpet. I'm not even playing; I'll do it."_

_ "Kurt…Hummel?"_

_ "Oh it speaks." Her arms crossed below her chest – he couldn't help noticing that it was a pretty nice chest – and she took another step toward him. "Yes Kurt Hummel. Is the name ringing any bells? Fashion-forward. Gay. Covered in the cherry and grape slushies that you poured all over him."_

_ "Um…"_

_ "And I can't expect you to understand that what you did was just plain rude because all you jocks seem to get a huge kick out of slushying us but you'd think we would have deserved a break considering we just won McKinley a Regionals trophy this past weekend. Not that you know what winning is since, as far as I know, the football team hasn't won anything since I came to this stupid school."_

_ "I…"_

_ "You've got a defense? I can't wait to hear it. C'mon, spit it out."_

_ Finn ran a hand through his damp hair. "I just needed to pee." Her nose crinkled upwards in a mix of confusion and disgust. Mostly disgust._

_ The bathroom door jerked open so suddenly that Finn stumbled away from it. Kurt Hummel emerged with a huff, still wiping at his jacket furiously with a wet paper towel. "It's no use. I think it's ruined." He noticed Finn and blinked up at him. "…Hello."_

_ "Hi." Finn's gaze darted back to the girl before settling on the shorter boy's face. "Heard what happened. Sorry about the guys. They don't like…slushies."_

_ "Or fashion. Or the fact that I'm gay. I get it." Kurt balled up the paper towel between his hands; he nodded as though agreeing his own statement. "Mercedes, I know we had plans but…" He gestured miserably at his jacket and the chunks of slushie slowly drying on his Marc Jacobs boots. _

_ Mercedes shrugged, lifting a hand to adjust the headband at the top of her shoulder-length curls. "No, I understand. Go home; get cleaned up."_

_ "I'll call you later." Kurt walked forward and hugged her tightly. He leaned back out of the embrace to look into her eyes. "Are you gonna be alright getting home?"_

_ "My mom should be there. I'll give her a call."_

_ "I could give you a ride." The two friends turned to look at Finn. He cleared his throat and straightened from where he had been leaning against the wall. "I've gotta get back to practice now but Coach should be done with us in less than a half hour…if you don't mind waiting." _

_ Kurt nudged Mercedes when she didn't respond apart from staring. "Take him up on his offer, diva."_

_ She glanced at Kurt and Finn watched them have an entire conversation with their eyes. He smiled innocently. "No funny business. I'm just trying to help."_

_ Mercedes bit her lower lip, suddenly looking unsure. "I don't know you."_

_ "She'll accept the ride." Kurt rolled his eyes and pecked her on the cheek before turning toward the school doors. "Call me when you get home!"_

_ She gave a little wave then turned back to the tall brunette in front of her. "So…do I just wait for you somewhere?"_

_ "You could sit on the bleachers. Puck's girlfriends wait for him all the time up there and Coach doesn't even mind." _

_ An amused look passed over Mercedes' face as she shrugged. "Okay. Let's get you back to practice. I'm sure they're wondering where you've been." She started walking, pausing when she noticed that Finn wasn't following. "…What's up?"_

_ He glanced pointedly at the bathroom door. "I kinda still need to…"_

_ "Go on and handle your business." She quirked a brow upward and nodded. "I'll be waiting right here."_

_**Down to the other side **_

_**It's easy if you only try**_

_**We don't lie down on the job**_

_**Because once we hit the top there's no stopping us**_

"Hey Hudson, wait up!"

Finn glanced over his shoulder to see who was calling him, his large frame blocking half of McKinley High's entrance. A freshman with a book bag that seemed to be enveloping him slammed into his back, and he held out a hand quickly to steady him as the younger student swayed.

His best friend since fourth grade, Noah Puckerman, came jogging through the crowd of students entering the building; he gave the freshman a withering glance before pointing impatiently into the school. "You waiting for an apology or something? Get in there!"

The boy pressed himself against the metal door and inched his way past Finn, muttering his own apologies. Finn sighed. "Don't you ever get tired of messing with people, Puck?"

Puck raised an eyebrow. "Are Santana's boobs real?" They walked down the hallway side by side. "I'm telling you, Hudson, you're way too soft on these kids. This is our senior year. We've gotta make the most of it." He winked at a group of Cheerios that had gathered outside of Coach Sylvester's office and pretended to catch the kiss that one of the girls blew at him.

Finn only smiled politely at the girls when they called out his name. It was always a good decision to keep moving. "You do what you do to make the most of it and I'll do what I'm gonna do. And what _I'm_ gonna do is lead the team to win McKinley that State Championship trophy and end the season undefeated then get ready to go to California with my girl."

"Oh Beiste would've been _so_ proud of that answer, Golden Boy."

"What can I say? I dream big."

Puck chuckled and stopped at his locker. Finn rounded the corner to get to his own, sliding his bag off from his shoulder to get out the AP Government textbook inside. The bag thumped onto the floor as he attempted to enter his ever-forgotten combinatio_n_.

"Mercedes Jones! What can you tell fans of my blog about The New Directions' plans for this year? Will there be a performance at the Welcome Back pep rally this morning?"

There she was. Finn turned to lean back against his locker. Jacob bin Israel had his camera inches from Mercedes' face; she raised a perfectly manicured hand to give him a gentle push back. "The pep rally is in less than a half hour. Can't the ten fans of your blog wait that long to figure out if we're performing or not?"

Jacob had the sense to look insulted by that, straightening his glasses on the bridge of his nose with a frown. "My blog has a lot more than ten…!"

"Yes, we'll be performing at the pep rally." Mercedes smiled sweetly into the camera and began walking again. Finn beamed when she noticed him at his locker, her eyes brightening.

"Mercedes Jones and Finn Hudson, our resident powerhouse diva and star quarterback!"

They rolled their eyes simultaneously. Mercedes pivoted on her heel to face Jacob again once she was by Finn's side. "Really though, boy, what do you _want_?"

Finn nodded, placing an arm inconspicuously around her waist. "Come on, bin Israel. Can we get a minute?"

No longer flustered now that he was in his true element of annoying people, Jacob continued. "Based on the results of the poll I posted on my blog over the last month of summer break, you and Mercedes Jones are the most popular couple at this school. In fact, one could even argue that you two are a power couple the likes of St. James and Berry at Carmel High School or Smythe and Anderson at Dalton."

Mercedes couldn't stop her nose from wrinkling at the mention of her rivals at every competition The New Directions participated in. "Not sure about this power couple business but…"

"Were you aware that you two trended on Twitter for a full school day last year?"

Finn looked down at her; she smirked back at him. "Prom."

"Definitely Prom."

_**Should I address all my letters to the well-to-be?**_

_**Should I say return to sender is just a well-be-done?**_

_**Should I better not take it so personal if all the good loving is never received?**_

_**Baby, if it was me, well I wouldn't think twice**_

_ "Should've gone with me."_

_ Mercedes gave a dry chuckle, giving a nod to the keyboardist to start the introduction of Artie and Tina's duet before turning from the stage to face Finn. "Like I told you, thanks but no thanks. It wouldn't have been a good idea. And besides, you seem like you're having a real fine time with Quinn over there."_

_ "We came as friends. She and Puck are more off than on right now." Finn waved over to Quinn who was dancing in the center of the gymnasium with Santana and Brittany. "And how would it have been a bad idea? We've been dating for six months now."_

_ She glanced around at the students dancing closest to them. "We've gone on dates for six months. We're not dating."_

_ "Oh, this is ridiculous. 'Cedes, that's exactly the same thing!"_

_ "It's not ridiculous at all, Finn." Mercedes gazed up at him calmly; his breath caught as he realized how truly beautiful she was that night. The way her brown eyes were reflecting the colored lights. The way her curves were accentuated in the red dress she wore. The way her long curls covered the bare, smooth skin of her shoulders. Continuing to speak, she didn't notice his intense scrutiny. "We come from two different worlds. I just don't think McKinley's ready to see those two worlds mix." She took another look around them with a sad smile. "Jocks dance with their cheerleader girlfriends. It's like a rule. If we started dancing right now, you know what would happen?"_

_ "Let me guess…the apocalypse?"_

_ "In a word, yes."_

_ Finn blinked down at her. "This isn't Tarzan, 'Cedes. You sing and I play football; we're not a different species. If we started dancing right now, the world wouldn't stop turning and people wouldn't point and stare. In fact, I'm willing to bet that no one would even care."_

_ "Pretty sure my date would care." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at a boy Finn thought he had seen as a part of Dalton's group at the last of those singing competitions he went to. Figured. Mercedes had a thing for those stupid striped ties._

_ He shrugged with false nonchalance. "And I'm pretty sure you two came as friends too." Her eyes flashed._

_ "Mercedes!" Artie bobbed his head to the beat of the song the band was playing as he rolled by them on the stage. "Get on up here, girl. You know you're next."_

_ She nodded and smiled at Tina as the girl placed her hands on the back of her boyfriend's wheelchair. Her face was blank when she resumed the conversation but the fire in her eyes remained. "Your people tend to slushy my people. Your people tend to humiliate my people and make us feel like we don't matter at this school. And yes, things have gotten a little better in the past year. I can admit that having Quinn and Santana and Brittany as a part of the glee club has helped in a lot of ways. But I'm not setting myself up for disappointment or bitterness or worse just because you want to tell the world that I'm your girl for some reason. So again…thanks but no thanks." She squeezed his arm. "I gotta go. Enjoy the rest of the night." _

_ "…Right." Finn watched her make her way onstage with a frown. _

_ "Dude, you are aware that you're standing at the bottom of the stage staring up at Mercedes Jones?" Puck stood by his side, looking from Mercedes to Finn's still melancholy face. "So sprung."_

_ "She always thinks something horrible will happen if we so much as talk to each other. I keep telling her this isn't Carrie. No one would've been waiting with a bucket of blood if we had come to Prom together."_

_ "Yeah, especially since everyone already thinks you're going out." _

_ "I know, right?" Finn sighed and then froze, slowly facing his friend. "Wait. Say that again?"_

_ Puck ran a hand over his barely styled mohawk. "It was all over bin Israel's stupid blog last week. Remember that movie you took her to? The little creep was definitely sitting two rows behind you. He wrote some article about you two being together. Had people commenting on how cute and adorable that would be." He watched Mercedes perform her number with a grin. "You know, I would join that club of hers if it meant listening to her sing every day. Damn, Hot Mama's got a voice!"_

_ Finn snapped out of his daze long enough to ram his elbow into Puck's ribs. "Stop calling her that!" _

_ "Whatever you say, man." Puck reached into the jacket of his tux to pull out a small bottle, raising his other hand in a mock salute. "I'm off to spike Coach Sylvester's prize punch." _

_ "People are voting for Prom King and Queen right now, aren't they?"_

_ Puck paused in his retreat and shrugged. "Yeah, they set up a table by the door. Why?"_

_ Finn bit his lower lip and looked up at Mercedes just as she effortlessly belted out the chorus of the song. "Mind doing me a favor before you spike that punch bowl?"_

_**No not I**_

_**See it's easy if you only try**_

_**We don't lie down on the job**_

_**Because once we hit the top there's no stopping us**_

_ He was up to something. Oh yeah, he was absolutely up to something. Mercedes took the cup of punch that David held out to her, absently nodding her thanks. He smirked. "You're staring at him again."_

_ She took a long sip and tried to fix her face so it wasn't so guarded. It didn't work. "He and Puck have been standing at the back for at least fifteen minutes now. What the heck are they saying to people?" _

_ "They're both up for Prom King. Maybe they're competing or something. Seeing how many people they can convince to vote for them." He maneuvered himself to stand in front of her so he could see toward the back of the gymnasium, grinning when he saw the two football players eagerly talking to several of the students closest to the voting table. Finn gestured toward Mercedes and David's grin broadened. _

_ Mercedes stepped to the side in order to resume her staring, frowning when she saw her date's face. "What?"_

_ "Nothing." He winked mischievously. "You're done singing for the night, aren't you?"_

_ "Well I think Kurt wanted us to sing together for…"_

_ David took her cup once she was finished with it, shaking his head. "He can sing by himself. I have a feeling you're gonna want to dance the rest of the night."_

_ "Getting a little confident in your Warbler moves, huh? Don't forget that New Directions won Regionals. You're good but you're not that good."_

_ He chuckled. "Just go with it, Miss Jones."_

_ Their attention was brought to the stage as Principal Figgins walked toward the microphone and cleared his throat loudly. "Attention. Attention, students. Pause in your festivities." The already-quiet crowd of high schoolers just looked up at him. "Prom royalty contenders, please join me at the front of the stage." He extended an arm to motion them up._

_ Mercedes watched Puck and Finn make their way from the back, cheeks warming as Finn scanned the room and held her gaze once his landed on her. The five candidates for Prom King stood to Figgins' left while the Prom Queen candidates stood to the principal's right. Santana Lopez leaned forward to catch Puck's eye. Over the past month, the two had playfully decided to campaign for the sole purpose of making sure the other didn't win._

_ "Your 2011 Prom King is…" Figgins gestured for a drum roll. "Finn Hudson!"_

_ The student body erupted into cheers; the sound made Mercedes smile. Finn had made his mark on McKinley in the three years that he'd been there. Captain of the football team, he had proven that popularity and kindness were not exclusive to each other. He deserved it. Realizing that she was simply standing and smiling, Mercedes raised her hands from her sides and clapped. _

_ "Yes well congratulations, Mr. Hudson." Figgins gave Finn a thumbs up; Finn returned the gesture good-naturedly, moving to the side. "And now for your 2011 Prom Queen."_

_ Puck and the other male candidates walked offstage; he clapped Finn on the back as he passed by. Mercedes' previous expression returned as Puck quickly whispered something in Finn's ear. "Oh they are planning something."_

_ David bumped his shoulder into hers. "Just enjoy the moment, will you?"_

_ Another drumroll. Mercedes' eyebrows furrowed in her confusion. "Enjoy the moment? What are you…?"_

_ "Mercedes Jones!"_

_**So c'mon try **_

_**Baby won't you try**_

_**It's easy if you do not run**_

_ "Mercedes? Mercedes. C'mon, at least blink." _

_ She gradually became aware of what was going on around her. The slow beat of the duet Kurt and Artie were singing. The bright light that seemed to be shining down on her alone. The movements of the students dancing around her. The buttons of Finn's tuxedo jacket two inches from her nose. Her lips parted almost sluggishly as she tilted her face upwards. "Finn?"_

_ He touched one of her curls and then gently tucked it behind her ear. "Yeah?"_

_ "Did he just say my name?"_

_ "Like two minutes ago…yeah. Yeah, he said your name." He flicked the plastic tiara on her head. "Congratulations."_

_ She raised a hand to it, fingertips tentatively running over its edges. "What did you do?"_

_ "What do you mean what did I do?"_

_ "Oh, you know what I mean. I wasn't even on that ballot."_

_ Finn shrugged, wrapping his hands around her wrists and lifting her arms so that they were on either side of his neck. He lowered his hands to her waist as they started swaying. "You were a write-in candidate."_

_ "So that's what you were doing back there? Convincing people to vote for me?"_

_ "All I did was tell the people that were already voting for me that there was only one Prom Queen I wanted. And that's you." Finn pulled her close. "Didn't take any convincing at all. They were happy to write your name in, 'Cedes." He leaned forward until his lips brushed her ear. "Notice the lack of apocalypse. No one's staring or pointing or dumping blood all over you."_

_ She frowned. "Why would anyone dump blood all over me?"_

_ "Um, never mind. Forget I mentioned it."_

_ Mercedes rolled her eyes but let it go. She narrowed her eyes at David who was talking to Puck near the punch bowl and clearly trying to argue the other boy out of doing something. He looked toward her when he felt her eyes on him, smiling sheepishly. "I feel a little betrayed. How'd you get my date in on it?"_

_ Finn followed her gaze. "I've never even met that guy. He just couldn't blame me for having great taste."_

_ "Great taste, huh?" She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his chest. _

_ "The best taste. And you might as well agree to be my girlfriend since they all think we're dating anyway."_

_ A short laugh escaped despite her attempt to stifle it. She lowered a hand to straighten his tie, her eyes sparkling. "So that's the way I get asked to be your girl?"_

_ He pecked her forehead and brought her hand to his lips. "You've been my girl, 'Cedes. All you have to do is agree to it."_

_ "Oh really? That's all?"_

_ "There might be a little more to it." _

_ She smiled against his mouth as he kissed her unhurriedly. Neither of them noticed Jacob bin Israel's camera flashing. _

_**I promise you you'll have your fun**_

_**Because once we hit the top we've just begun**_

_**There's no stopping us**_

**Whew! Once I started typing this one up, I just couldn't figure out a way to end it. I hope you all enjoyed it though. It was nice to write Finncedes fluff after all those two angsty one-shots.**

**Send me reviews and prompt suggestions (fluffy or otherwise)! I love hearing from you!**


	6. Jealousy

**Author's Note: **Based on Queen's "Jealousy" and a prompt from IslandGem!

"You sounded amazing. As always."

Mercedes smiled warmly at Finn as she took her boyfriend's hand, taking a step away from her parents so he could wrap his arms around her. The students and families still leaving the April Rhodes Civil Pavilion filled the hallways of McKinley and jostled them. She nodded her gratitude at the compliments being given in passing, her smile only broadening. "I didn't think you made it. The seat beside my parents was empty during the performance."

Finn's jaw dropped in mock offense. "Have I _ever_ missed a New Directions concert? The recruiter who came to the game…"

"How did it go? Did you talk to him? Was he impressed? Did the team win the game because of something you did? Did Puck ruin everything and make you guys lose again?"

Puck glanced over his shoulder at the sound of his name. "That wasn't my fault last time!" Mercedes shrugged and he returned his attention to the Cheerio he was flirting with.

Finn chuckled. "His name is Cooter and yeah, he said he was pretty impressed. Wants to come by the house and talk to us about Ohio State. Mom's super excited."

"I'm so happy for you." Mercedes squeezed him tightly. "Daddy, did you hear?"

"I heard." Robert Jones stepped forward and shook Finn's hand. "Congratulations, son. Did you make it in time to hear Mercy's solo?"

"_Solos_," her mother, Cynthia, corrected, opening her arms for a hug from Finn.

Mercedes lifted a hand to her long black curls. "You keep saying that like it's a big deal. We all had a solo or two. That's the way New Directions is. Everyone shines at our concerts."

"Well, you shone the brightest." Finn bent slightly and kissed her on the cheek. "We stood in the back. Coach Sue wouldn't let me get to my seat."

"Too big of a distraction?"

"Her exact words were 'giants shouldn't sit in the front row'." Mercedes stifled her laughter with a hand, using the other to stroke his arm sympathetically. Finn grinned good-naturedly. "By the time she let us in, you guys were doing the second group number. I heard every note of _both_ of your solos, angel."

"Hudson and Jones, are you coming?" Puck loped over and threw an arm across both of their shoulders. "We're leaving for that new bar and grill to celebrate music and stuff."

"I thought we were going to the Lima Bean for coffee. And how do _you_ know where we're doing to celebrate?" Mercedes looked him up and down with disdain.

He gave her an onceover that was almost identical except for his smirk. "Satan invited me. Besides, you can't go to a bar without the Puckster. I'm the one with the…" His voice trailed off as he noticed Mr. and Mrs. Jones' raised eyebrows. "The pizza money. I'm the one with the pizza money."

Mercedes rolled her eyes, turning to her parents. "Don't worry. I'll just get a burger or something. And I won't order anything stronger than lemonade."

Robert kept his eyes on Puck. "You'd better not. Don't let your drink out of your sight. Finn, don't let _her_ out of your sight."

"Oh you don't have to worry about that, Mr. Jones."

"Home by midnight, baby girl."

"Yes Daddy."

Cynthia nudged her husband and gave Mercedes' a quick hug. "Try not to order anything with dairy, baby. You know what it does to your voice and you've got that solo tomorrow at church."

"I know, Mama. I won't. Want me to get you a milkshake if they have it on the menu?"

"Oh, you _know_ I do."

Mercedes pecked her on the cheek before doing the same to her father. "Thank you for coming. I love you."

Robert took his wife's arm and led the way out to the parking lot. Finn's fingers intertwined with Mercedes' as they started walking in the opposite direction; he waved to Puck as the other boy doubled back to the locker room to grab something he'd forgotten. She leaned into his chest, sighing happily. "Did you see all those people in that auditorium? The football team plays a home game and they still come to see us perform. Unbelievable."

"Well if I had to decide between watching a bunch of sweaty guys slam into each other on a field and watching a gorgeous girl and her friends sing their hearts out…"

"Oh stop."

"I'm only telling you the truth." He stopped walking and took a step away from her, his hand still in hers. "Look at you. God, Mercedes, you're radiant. I'm the luckiest guy in the world."

She lowered her eyes to the ground as he took in the sight of the shimmering blue dress she had changed into for the closing number. When her gaze suddenly snapped back up to his face, it was impish. "Yeah. You kinda are."

_**Jealousy you got me somehow **_

_**You gave me no warning**_

_**Took me by surprise**_

Mercedes thanked Finn for holding open the restaurant's door and walked through, her lips immediately forming a perfect circle at the number of people inside. "Should've gone to the Bean."

Sugar Motta skipped up to them, her hair pulled into two loose pigtails and a black apron around her waist. "Hi! Are you two here with the McKinley group?"

Mercedes' brows furrowed in confusion. "Sugar, you work here?"

Finn nodded. "I thought you were rich. Like…really rich. Like rich enough to buy this place."

Sugar pouted, taking a pen from where it had been stuck behind her ear and chewing on the end of it. "Daddy wants me to pay for half of my new car. It's totally unfair but what are you gonna do?"

"Right." Mercedes scanned the full room for familiar faces, waving once she spotted Artie. "Doesn't seem like there's any room for us."

"There's room at the bar." Sugar looked between them. "Tina Cohen-Chang is already sitting there. The bartender will take your order and everything. Sound good?" Finn raised his eyebrows at Mercedes; she shrugged. Sugar beamed. "Excellent!" She reached for two menus and led the way.

Tina jumped off of her bar stool as soon as she saw them approaching. "You took so long getting here I thought you weren't going to come. Were you two having sexy times in your car?"

Finn flushed and busied himself helping Mercedes out of her jacket. "Has Puckerman showed up yet?"

"He stayed just long enough for the bartender to tell him that his fake ID's wouldn't work. 'Tana went with him." Tina leaned close to Mercedes to whisper, "And by the way, the bartender is hot. _Really_ hot. Pretty sure he's only a few years older than us too."

"So ask him out," Mercedes whispered back. She gave Tina's long ponytail a playful tug before taking a seat, glancing at the bartender who had his back to them while mixing drinks for a middle-aged couple a few stools away from them.

Tapping her arm lightly to get her attention, Finn jerked a thumb toward the back of the restaurant. "I gotta take a leak. Save my seat, okay?"

"As if I'd let anyone else sit there." She moved her jacket to drape over his stool. "Want me to order your drink?"

"A root beer would be great. Thanks, babe. Be right back." He said a brief greeting to Artie, Kurt, and Rachel Berry as he passed by their table.

Tina nudged Mercedes in the ribs when the girl simply sat watching Finn's retreating figure. "That doofy smile on your face says it all. You're in _love_."

Mercedes blinked and turned back to her, cheeks growing warm. "We've been together for three years now. I'd better be."

"I'm so happy for the two of you." Tina leaned forward and propped her chin up on her hand. "How did the game go? Did they lose? Puck didn't look too happy when I asked."

"Probably because he wasn't the one who won the game. A recruiter approached Finn about Ohio State and it looks like he might get that scholarship Coach Bieste told him about."

"He wins the football game; New Directions just performed in front of a full auditorium. A perfect night for a perfect couple."

Mercedes let out a snort. "Oh we _aren't_ perfect, Tina. Sometimes that boy says the absolute dumbest things, and sometimes I'm too much diva for him to handle. But we're good together. We're at our best together. I think that's how it works."

"Sorry about the wait, ladies. I had to bring out some food real quick. Can I get you something to..." The bartender's voice trailed off as he came to stand in front of them. "…drink? Whoa."

Tina frowned and then realized his gaze was solely directed toward Mercedes who couldn't have been more oblivious. The other girl had opened her menu and was flipping it to the back to see the drinks. "It's no problem. Can I have a root beer and…raspberry lemonade? I'll want a brownie milkshake to-go later on." She lifted her eyes with a nod, blinking when she saw how intently he was staring at her. "Um…"

He gave an embarrassed chuckle and finally averted his brilliant blue eyes; his hand rose to run through his jet black hair nervously. "Sorry. I just…you're beautiful. Took me by surprise."

Mercedes ignored Tina's excited, repeated taps on her knee, glancing at the name on the bartender's tag. "Thank you, Jonathan. That's really sweet of you to say."

"Well that feels better." Finn slid onto the bar stool beside her. He smiled at her and then Jonathan. "Hey. Are we ordering?"

Tina leaned back to get a clear view of him. "Not quite."

Jonathan leaned forward at the same time, crossing his arms on top of the wooden bar counter. "So what's your name?"

Mercedes felt rather than saw Finn's confusion at why her personal space was suddenly being invaded. She cleared her throat. "Mercedes. And this is Tina. And this is Finn. He just happens to be my…"

"Mercedes. Mercedes Jones?"

"Uh…yeah. How do you…?"

"My little brother goes to McKinley. Maybe you know him. Connor Franklin?" He waved a hand in dismissal when she started to shake her head. "Ah, don't worry about it. He's in band. Friends with a couple of the guys who play for your little group. What's it called? The Nude Erections? Ballsy name for a high school glee club."

"It's actually…"

"He says you've got quite the voice. As in the best voice he's ever heard. Wouldn't shut up about that solo you sang at the pep rally beginning of the year. If I'd known how gorgeous you are…"

"Whoa." Holding up a hand to stop him right there, Finn looked between the two of them. "Dude, I'm sitting right here."

Jonathan gave him a quick, dismissive nod. "Ready to order?"

"I'm ready for _you_ to back off my girlfriend."

Mercedes placed a hand on his arm. "Finn, it's okay. He didn't know we're together."

His glare only softened slightly when he turned it on her. "Then maybe you should've clued him in on that when he first started flirting with you."

Jonathan raised his hands up as if to ward off an attack. "Hey man, it was my bad. I had no idea she was your girl."

Mercedes had turned her body to completely face Finn, voice lowering and eyes narrowing. "Who do you think you're talking to like that? He didn't know because I didn't get the chance to tell him."

"Right. I have a sneaking suspicion that chance would never have come if I'd stayed in the bathroom all night." Finn stood and took a step away. "Don't bother getting my drink. I'm out of here."

Mercedes stared at him as he stalked angrily toward the entrance. Slowly, she turned to Tina. "That boy just lost his mind."

Tina chuckled. "Don't hurt 'im." Mercedes nodded, hopping off of her stool and grabbing her jacket. Tina smiled up at Jonathan. "I'll have the strawberry lemonade please."

_**Jealousy you led me on**_

_**You couldn't lose you couldn't fail**_

_**You had suspicion on my trail**_

"Finn Hudson, if you don't stop right now, I swear I'll…!"

Finn paused with one leg already in his car, looking coolly at her from over his shoulder. "There a problem, Mercedes?"

She gave a humorless chuckle. "Don't play that with me. What the hell happened in there? And what, now you're leaving because of a little misunderstanding? _Seriously_? It's been a great night for both of us and this is how you want it to end?"

He got out and closed the car door. "Am I not supposed to be bothered by some guy making a pass at you?"

"No, Finn. You're _not_ supposed to be bothered." She walked toward him with her hands deep in her jacket's pockets, a slight shiver running through her as she became acclimated to the chilly night air. "Because it doesn't matter. The flirting, _him_, it doesn't matter. Not to me."

"Well it does to me, Mercy." He thumped a fist on the roof of his car. "You're amazing. Everyone who knows you loves you, and if someone _doesn't_ know you, they've heard about you and how absolutely incredible you are. I'm just a dumb jock but for some reason you chose me."

She raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "So what, you thought that guy was gonna somehow steal me away from you?"

"It could happen!"

"No. No it couldn't." Mercedes closed the space between them with two more steps, reaching up to caress his face. "See, I've never thought you were a dumb jock. I'm actually kind of mad that you think I'd even date a dumb jock. I chose you because you're a wonderful, loving guy who puts others first and sure, sometimes you do dumb things. Right now is a prime example of one of those times. But sometimes you do really smart things like dating me and coming back inside restaurants to celebrate a wonderful night with me."

Grinning sheepishly, he took her small hand into his own and gave it a squeeze. "That would be a smart thing to do?"

"Oh the very _smartest_." She grabbed his keys from his car door with her free hand, dropping them into his pocket. "You're the only guy for me, Finn Hudson. I want you to remember that."

"Sorry I stormed off. Just got a little hot under the colllar."

They started back toward the restaurant; Mercedes pressed herself close to him so she was better blocked from the cold. He let go of her hand to wrap his arm around her. "You know, that was a classic Rachel Berry storm-off that you just did."

"...Yeah?"

"Yeah. And, hey, it actually looked even dumber when you did it."

Finn rolled his eyes, giving her a gentle push through the door as he held it open for her.

_**Oh how strong can you be**_

_**With matters of the heart?**_

**Leave me reviews, song suggestions, and prompts!**


	7. Loving You Tonight

**Author's Note: **Based on Andrew Allen's "Loving You Tonight" and a prompt by Mad-like for young, happily married Finncedes. (By the way, be sure to read "Gates". It's Mad-like's incredible fic with a Samcedes spin on Chapter 4: Maybe I'm Amazed!)

_**Lost in the day, in a way, it's the same as the one before this**_

_**And I wish I could say that it's all black and white**_

_**But it's grey**_

_**It's the same, it's the same and I'm so tired **_

_**But you are what I'm coming home to**_

Done, done, and done. Finn spun his office chair around in his small cubicle, dropping the filled-to-bursting manila folder in his hands into a bin on the desk. "That's it. I'm out of here!"

Anna, a thirty-something law associate sitting in the cubicle directly across from him, raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "Hudson, between the two of us, we have five more cases to write up for Seymour before we can even _think_ about leaving and he will have your balls in a blender when he hears that you headed out early."

He stood and walked over to lean on the short wall bordering her desk. "Believe it or not, Michael Seymour knows that I'm leaving early. Not only that, he _condones_ me leaving early. You wanna know why?"

"Let me guess, you gave the hardass junior partner of Schull, Miller, and Associates those sad puppy eyes you do so well and he immediately caved."

Finn rolled his eyes. "I asked him to give me a little break since it's my anniversary. And then I gave him the sad puppy eyes. And _then_ he caved."

"Anniversary, huh?" Anna crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. "Has it been a year already? Wow. Seems like just yesterday I watched you watch Mercedes walk down the aisle…"

Finn grinned, remembering the breathtaking vision of his bride. "Yeah."

"You were wearing Armani."

"Only the best for Mercedes Jones' wedding."

"She looked absolutely stunning."

"She really did. The most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. She's _still_ the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

"And I just kept looking at your face, the face of a man who was about to marry his childhood sweetheart and the love of his life. And I kept wondering…why in the world does that man look constipated?"

Finn scowled down at her. "It was nerves."

"Nerves. Right. Well, I'm glad you got your face together for the wedding photos."

"Okay. Whatever." Finn walked back over to his cubicle to grab his suit jacket from the back of his chair. "My stunning bride and I are going to celebrate our anniversary now. Be happy for us and say goodnight, Anna."

Anna turned back to the case folder open on her desk. "Gosh, I wish I _could_ be happy for you, Finn dear, but it is ten o'clock and I've still got five case files to finish before the morning. That's at least four more hours of work ahead of me."

He grabbed his briefcase and started for the elevator. "Hey, if it's any consolation, you only have to do two of those five. I'll get the rest when I come in tomorrow."

"Oh gee, I get to go home by midnight. _That's_ exciting." She rolled her eyes at his small, apologetic wave. "Tell Mercedes I said hi."

"Will do!"

_**Oh and I'm thinking about a red wine buzz and takin' it easy**_

_**And I got you in my arms, takin' a break from crazy**_

Mercedes puckered her lips slightly as she applied a fresh coat of lipstick, glancing over her shoulder quickly to check the alfredo sauce simmering on the stove. Her gaze settled on the clock above the fireplace as she slid her feet into the pair of black Louboutin heels she'd abandoned earlier near the kitchen table.

Her phone suddenly buzzed from its place on the counter; she snatched it up, pressed Talk, and brought it to her ear with a sigh. "This isn't the best time, 'Tana."

"Wanky. Don't tell me the Jolly Green Giant is putting the moves on you right now. And you _still_ answered the phone." Santana snorted. "That says a lot."

"He's not even here yet. What do you want?" Mercedes held the phone away from her face as a thought came to her. "Shoot, I forgot the candles."

"What?"

She put it on speakerphone, setting it down while she searched the kitchen cabinets. "I was going to light a few candles. What'd you call me for?"

"I called to tell you happy anniversary. I'm glad you and Finn are together and in love and married. You know I've supported you two since day one."

Mercedes cut her eyes at the phone as if somehow Santana could see her expression. "No really, why'd you call?"

"Okay fine. I wanted to know about your Spring collection. Any chance I could borrow one of the dresses for the premiere?"

"Those designs aren't ready for the public yet. Kurt and I are still tweaking some things."

"Who said anything about public? I just want a dress for me. Come on, it's my breakout role and my first premiere. I want to wear one of your designs. You should be flattered."

"I'll be flattered when you actually remember what I say. Especially when what I say is no." Mercedes carefully lit three of the large unscented candles, placing them one by one in the center of the kitchen table. "There's a dress that might do you justice. I'll have to check with Kurt though. So don't get your hopes up. 'Cause you know he hates your guts."

Santana gave a loud sarcastic laugh into her phone. "He'll be my next call then."

Mercedes turned at the sound of the garage door raising and quickly started pulling down dishes. "Good luck with that."

"Thanks and good luck to you with your…thing."

"Anniversary. See, I _knew_ you weren't calling for that. Brittany probably reminded you it was today so you could butter me up."

She could almost see Santana's nonchalant shrug. "I don't have to remember those special dates; that's Finn's job."

"And it's a job I'm glad to have."

Mercedes slowly set down the pair of forks that she had in her hand, a bright smile spreading across her face. "You're right on time, baby."

Finn set down his case and walked toward her. "Really? I left the office as soon as I could but traffic was murder all the way from…"

Despite wearing three inch-heels, she still had to grab his collar and bend him down so that their lips could meet. Her eyes sparkled up at him as they parted. "You're right on time. I made your favorite. Fettucine alfredo. Rolls are in the oven. I hope you're hungry."

Finn ran his fingertips over the bold red dress hugging every one of his wife's curves, gradually moving his hand to cup her face. "Oh yeah, I'm hungry. Not really for _food_ at the moment but…"

"Oh that's wanky as hell, Hudson."

His eyes widened at the sound of Santana's voice; Mercedes groaned and reached out for her phone. "Have a good night, 'Tana."

Santana chuckled. "Yeah, you have a good night too." She hung up with a click.

_**Oh I'm dreaming about a romance, slow dancing with you**_

_**When I've got you in my arms, I don't care what we do**_

"We have too many snarky friends."

Mercedes let out a girly giggle as Finn dipped her, placing her arms back around his waist once she was again upright. "Anna give you a hard time about abandoning her at the firm?"

"Nah, not _too_ hard of a time." He rested his chin on the top of her head, breathing in the smell of her perfume with a smile. "She says hi."

"How is she?"

"Anna's good. Schull approached her yesterday and invited her to dinner. Usually means he and Miller are considering someone for junior partner."

"I'll send up a prayer that that's exactly what the dinner means." Finn spun Mercedes out as the song playing changed; she looked up into his serene brown eyes as he slowly pulled her back toward him. "I know you said that you wouldn't mind if you were never made partner…"

"Being a partner would mean even less time with you. And now that we're trying to start a family..." Finn paused and shook his head. "Let's just say it's pretty low on my to-do list."

"I don't want to be the reason why you don't put yourself out there. You know you got their attention with that case you won last month. You're a pretty talented attorney if I may say so myself." She tilted her head up, her chin brushing by his chest.

"Most wives would be thrilled if their husbands told them they wanted to spend less time at work."

Mercedes smirked. "Oh you're not fooling me, Mr. Hudson. You just want to stay home and make babies."

Chuckling, Finn lowered his face to give her an Eskimo kiss. "Gotta admit, it's my favorite part of the day, Mrs. Hudson." His chuckle became a full-blown laugh when she gasped in mock astonishment and gave his arm a light smack.

_**Every day is just the in-between **_

_**The hours separating you from me**_

_**I know you'll be waiting **_

_**I know that you'll be waiting**_

"So how _was_ your day?"

Continuing to scrub violently at the pan in her hands, Mercedes frowned up at Finn where he stood beside her at the sink. "You asked me that already, remember? My day was one of the first things we talked about while we ate."

He bumped her with his hip, reaching out to take the pan so he could do his job of rinsing. "You said you spent your day off with Tina. That was it."

"We saw a romantic comedy. It was nice. The couple was cute. Missed about twenty minutes of it because Kurt called. One of the models we hired for the fashion show came down with mono."

"Oh." His nose crinkled. "That's awful."

"I know, right? Kurt said the poor girl looked like death. Couldn't believe she even tried to come in and try on the dresses."

Finn blinked, tilting his head to the side. "I was talking about the fact that you spent your day off watching a romantic comedy. Wasn't there anything else playing?"

That earned him another smack. "If I couldn't spend the day of my anniversary doing romantic things with my husband, I was going to watch someone else do romantic things." Mercedes sighed and handed him the last dish. "Why couldn't our first anniversary fall on the weekend when you don't have to go in to work?"

"This is coming from the woman who wants me to go up for partner." He took the plate from her, dunked it in the water, and placed it in the nearby dish drainer. "Miller and Schull are at the firm on the weekends all the time."

"I'm just saying. A weekend first anniversary would've been nice." Mercedes let out the sudsy water on her side of the sink. She turned her body so that she was leaning back against the counter. "Tonight was a good night, right? This was a good first anniversary?"

Finn did the same with his water and then imitated her movement, folding his arms against his chest with an earnest nod. "_Please_. I got to spend my night with my beautiful wife, eating incredible food, dancing, and washing dishes. I'd give it a ten out of ten. But the night's not over yet."

She glanced up at him, her entire body growing warm as she recognized the look in her husband's eyes. "Oh it's not?"

"Not even close." He pushed himself from the counter and extended a hand to her gallantly. "Mercedes Hudson, I'd like to get you out of that dress now."

"Oh would you like that?" She winked at him teasingly.

"I would. Wanna know what else I'd like?"

"I'm dying to know."

"I'd like to give you the honor of getting me out of my suit."

Letting out a burst of laughter, Mercedes kicked off her heels and let him lead the way to the stairs. "It'd be my pleasure."

_**And I'll say "hey!"**_

_**You'll say "baby, how's your day?"**_

_**I'll say "crazy" **_

_**But it's gonna be alright**_

_**I'm loving you tonight**_

_**Loving you tonight**_

**Leave me reviews, song suggestions, and prompts! **

**brina's Mr. and Mrs. Smith-style prompt is coming up next!**


	8. Barracuda: Part One

**Author's Note: **The first part of the great Finncedes Mr. and Mrs. Smith prompt given by brina. Hope you like it! (There won't be lyrics throughout like usual but "Barracuda" by Heart would make a good soundtrack).

**_And if the real thing don't do the trick_**

**_You better make up something quick_**

**_You gonna burn, burn, burn, burn, burn to the wink_**

**_Barracuda_**

**Caracas, Venezuela **

**5 Years Ago**

_ Finn Hudson lifted his glass of scotch to his lips. The world around him tinted by the sunglasses he wore, he turned at a sudden sound. Three Venezuelan police officers dressed completely in their black uniforms burst into the hotel; the leader of the small group pointed around the room while shouting commands. He leaned against the bar counter to ask the man standing on the other side, "Hey. ¿Que pasa?"_

_ "Someone shot down a helicopter carrying Juan Ramirez. They're looking for tourists who are traveling alone."_

_ He slowly took off his sunglasses and pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers. This was going to be an unforeseen and unwanted complication to things. Finn stood from the bar so he could better observe the officers, frowning as two of them met his gaze and stepped forward toward him. His attention-and theirs-was grabbed by the woman walking in through the large glass doors. She was dressed all in white, a stark contrast to her mahogany skin, white camisole, white flowing skirt, and white chandelier earrings that were barely visible beyond her curly black hair. _

_ "Can we see your passport, miss?"_

_ "Are you traveling alone?"_

_ "Are you in Venezuela by yourself, miss?"_

_ Mercedes Jones' brows furrowed slightly as the three police officers swarmed around her. She discreetly lowered her skirt back over the gun strapped to her thigh, her gaze settling on the man standing at the bar. He gave a slight nod to her. The officer nearest to her grasped her arm as she moved to walk away. _"_¿Estas sola? Are you here alone?"_

_ She kept her eyes on the man, breathing a small sigh of relief as he started toward them. "No, no, no, this is my wife. She's with me." The officer nodded and joined his comrades in questioning someone else who had just entered the hotel. _

_ Mercedes took the hand he held out to her and allowed him to lead the way to his room. She pressed herself against the door as soon as he closed it, listening through the heavy wooden frame to hear if an officer had followed them. Looking up at the man who had helped her, she whispered, "I'm Mercedes."_

_ "Finn."_

_ Her ear still against the door and voice still low, she reached out to shake his hand. "Pleased to meet you. Thanks for doing what you did out there."_

_ Finn smiled back at her, almost marveling in how small and soft her hand was. "It was my pleasure."_

_ She glanced at their hands, still joined, and felt her cheeks warm even as she pulled her hand out of his grasp._

**Hudson-Jones Residence **

**Silver Spring, Maryland**

The beeping of the alarm clock seemed to echo throughout the large bedroom; sluggishly, Finn lifted his arm from around his wife's waist and slammed a large hand on its snooze button. Lying with her back against his front, Mercedes let out a soft groan. "Just turn it off, Finn. You know we have to get up."

He obliged. "We don't _have_ to get up, you know. I think the office would survive without you for one day."

"Oh would it?" Finn moved to lie on his back, and Mercedes turned her body so that her head could rest on his chest. She kept her eyes closed even as one of her eyebrows arched skeptically. "What about your office? Would it survive without _you_ for one day?"

"_Please_. That place would crash and burn without me."

She opened her eyes with a laugh. "Well I wouldn't want that. Up and at 'em, big boy."

He growled playfully, a low rumble of a sound. "I love it when you call me that, 'Cedes."

"Oh geez." Mercedes sat up and gave him a poke. "Come on. Or we'll both be late."

"I can think of worse reasons to be late to work."

"Finn Hudson, get up!"

"Fine! Getting up!" Finn swung his legs over the side of the bed, wincing slightly as his feet hit the floor. Still sore from the night before. That was new.

"Having trouble standing over there, Grandpa?"

"Funny." He stood and walked to his dresser, stretching his arms behind his head before reaching for a clean shirt. "Probably just getting old.'

"You're only thirty-five, babe. But you did look a little worse for wear when you got in from that late night run. Maybe you should cut back on those."

Late night run. Also known as a trip to downtown Tokyo to have the everlasting crap kicked out of him by Kaito Kobayashi. Finn threw the shirt across the bed and went to take his shower. "Yeah. Maybe."

**Downtown Tokyo**

**Last Night**

_"You're telling me that your wife thinks you're just out taking a jog right now?" Matt Rutherford chuckled and leaned back in the passenger seat of the black Porsche Panamera, propping his arm up near the rental's window. "That's weak, Hudson."_

_ Finn attached a silencer to his Ruger Mk II, raising an eyebrow. "What, you've got something better?"_

_ "My cover is that I work for the government. It's close enough to the truth. My wife expects these late night flights and jobs."_

_ "Yeah, but she still thinks you're at an office in DC tonight." Finn shrugged. "As far as Mercedes knows, I'm taking a long late night run after a long, stressful day working as a successful corporate development manager. She has no idea what's going on and honestly, I don't think she has time to figure it out."_

_ "She seems like a pretty busy lady. Didn't you say she was gone for at least a week last month?"_

_ "Her company sent her to monitor the foreign branch in Italy. It was real sudden too. Most of her trips are. One minute Mercedes is at the house cooking dinner; the next minute she's disappeared and there's a note on the fridge. They work her too hard. Sometimes she comes back exhausted like she's had to chase down other managers or something." His phone vibrated in his pocket; he quickly answered it and lifted it to his ear. "We're here." _

_ "Kobayashi?" Matt whispered. _

_ Finn nodded, a frown settling on his mouth as he spoke to the hitman. After a few one-word answers, he ended the call and placed his phone back into the pocket on the inside of his suit jacket. "He's in the warehouse. Says he's alone."_

_ "Alone, huh?" Matt pulled out his own Ruger and opened the car door to step out. "Alone my ass. Grab the money, will you?"_

_ Finn leaned back and pulled forward the briefcase that had been lying on the floor of the back seat. Also stepping out of the Porsche, he shoved his gun in the holster strapped to his dress shirt, effectively hidden by his jacket. "Guess I can't complain though. 'Cedes is pretty lucky. She has no clue what I really do and she gets to have a nice, normal life. All things considered, I'm glad I don't have to worry about my wife getting into trouble." He lifted his eyes to the dark sky, smiling slightly at the fact that it was clear and bright with stars despite their location in a shady alley. "Hey, it's actually a nice night for a run."_

**Washington, DC**

Mercedes placed her hand on the scanner and watched as the large door before her slowly opened. Nodding a polite greeting to everyone who called out to her as she walked past, she made her way to her office. Men and women stood in front of the large monitors that surrounded the room; each was streaming data and personal files to be meticulously discussed, verified, and taken into account. She paused at the door of her office, narrowing her eyes at the sight of a familiar face on one of the screens nearby. "Someone took out Kaito Kobayashi?"

Tina Cohen-Chang came from where she was leaning against her desk and stood next to her. "Just last night. They found his body in an empty warehouse."

"Who did it?"

"No one knows yet. Probably one of us though. It's the only explanation. Kobayashi was the best in Japan."

"He was a formidable hired gun alright," Mercedes said, entering her office and motioning for Tina to follow. "I would love to meet whoever took him out and get them over here working with us." She picked up the vanilla latte that was waiting for her on the desk. "What have we got today?"

Her office was equipped with its own monitor; Tina typed a few quick commands into the keyboard on Mercedes' desk and stood back, arms folded just under her chest. "His name is Noah Puckerman. He's somewhat of a genius, although the mohawk contradicts that a bit. Graduated from Yale's Computer Science program this past year and yes, before you ask, he was fourteen when he started at the university. After graduation, he was immediately snatched up by Granger Enterprises."

"To do what?"

"The legal side of his job is chief Computer Systems Designer."

"And the not-so legal side of his job?" Mercedes took a long sip of the latte and crinkled her nose at how cold it was. She made a mental note not to get into the shower with Finn if already late to work. Lesson learned.

"He hacks into other company's databases using self-designed, virtually untraceable software. Tells Paul Granger what their next business plans are and Granger gets to enjoy always being one step ahead of the industry. Recently however, Puckerman's taken up a few extracurricular activities like selling the software to some less than savory characters. Fun fact, he likes to be called Puckzilla if you're doing business with him."

"Seriously?" A picture of a young man filled half of the screen, the other half showed various forms of information about him: his current location, family relations, bank statements, etc.

Tina smirked. "Oh it's _all_ serious when it comes to the trouble this kid is in. For an eighteen year old, he's managed to get on the radar of every crime boss in the world and unfortunately for us, they're all on his side."

"What the hell did he make?"

"He made a threat. Somehow Noah Puckerman has gotten his hands on some data. And not just classified date or super-secret data. Top CIA operatives would _die_ before even admitting these files even exist. Puckerman threatened to sell them to the highest bidder if the gov doesn't fork over ten million."

Mercedes frowned. "When?"

"Tomorrow night. Six o'clock. We know for sure that Rocca and Vargas are sending men to meet him. Trying to confirm others."

"We need to get that kid." Mercedes let out a soft sigh, sinking down into the chair behind her desk. "Says that they're meeting him in New York. Damn. I promised Finn no more trips out of DC for at least a week."

Tina smirked and reached for the lukewarm cup of coffee. "Quite an odd promise to make considering what we do."

"Had to promise something. He was starting to ask why the company was working me so hard." The corner of her lips tilted upwards. "Poor guy. Has absolutely no idea."

Walking over to the coat rack near the office door and grabbing the clothes bag hanging there, Tina grinned. "What do you think he'd do if he knew?"

"Finn's all about corporations and mergers, business plans and networking with boring businesspeople who spend their days sitting behind desks. I love my husband but he just wouldn't understand all this, why we do what we do." Mercedes took the bag from her and unzipped it slightly to see what was inside.

"It's for your meeting with the congressman this evening," Tina said, seeing the amused look on Mercedes' face. "You'll definitely look the part."

**The second part will be up as soon as possible! **

**Review with what you think so far!**


	9. Barracuda: Part Two

**Author's Note: **Gah, this prompt is fun to write. Thanks again, brina!

**_You lying so low in the weeds_**

**_I bet you gonna ambush me_**

**_You'd have me down, down, down, down on my knees_**

**_Now wouldn't you?_**

**Fifth Floor of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel**

**Washington DC**

_Congressman Andrew Lingold took a sip of the complimentary champagne that had been left waiting for him, shrugging off his suit jacket and draping it carelessly across the back of the sofa. He turned sharply at the sound of a door slamming somewhere outside of his hotel room and then breathed deeply. Best to calm down. Nothing wrong here. It was just a diversion from the day's work. He deserved a little diversion. He tilted his wrist upward to see the time on his watch. _

_ As if right on cue, there was a series of light knocks on the door. He grinned and went to open it. The dark-skinned woman standing on the other side was breathtaking. Brown eyes looked up at his tall frame coyly from behind devastatingly long eyelashes and a side swept bang of black hair. She gave a knowing smile, stepping around him to enter the room. "Good afternoon, Congressman." _

_ "G-good evening," he found himself stuttering. Lingold cleared his throat and turned to shut the door once more. "You found the hotel okay?"_

_ "I found it just fine. Thank you for asking."_

_ He turned back around and stared. The woman had divested of the long jacket she had been wearing, revealing a black corset with matching panties. The only thing covering her shapely legs were the boots she wore, complete with four-inch stiletto heels. Her full lips tilted upward in a grin at the slack-jawed expression on his face. "Wanna spend the night looking or shall we play?" She lifted and dropped her shoulders with a nonchalant shrug. "Either way, I get paid, Congressman."_

_ Lingold took a stumbling step toward her. His gaze was fixed on the way her impressive breasts were on display in the corset. Finally, he dragged it upwards to her equally as striking face. "You can call me Andrew…if you want. I've never done this before. Um, what do I call you?"_

_ She shrugged again. "You can call me what you like. We don't really care to share our names. It ruins the mystery of the experience." Taking in his uncertain nod, the woman reached out to pull out the chair from the nearby desk. "How 'bout a massage? Might relax you a bit so you can enjoy yourself." _

_ "A massage? Sure. Yeah, sure, a massage sounds good." He quickly rid himself of his button-down dress shirt._

_ She led him to the chair with her hands on his shoulders, gently pushing him to sit. _

**Hudson-Jones Residence **

**Silver Spring, Maryland**

"Honey, I'm home!" Finn used his foot to close the front door behind him. " 'Cedes? Are you here?"

"In the kitchen!" she called out.

He set down his briefcase and made his way further into the house, grinning broadly at the scene in front of him. "Well, don't you look deliciously domestic."

Mercedes finished untying the pink apron from around her waist and rolled her eyes at him. "Hush. It was a gift from Tina." Also known as a minor prop in a five-month stint in Seattle pretending to be a nanny in a mobster's home. Same thing.

Finn leaned forward across the counter to give her a kiss. "Tell Tina I love it. Maybe later you can model it for me. I think it would go great with absolutely nothing else."

"You're insatiable." She motioned for him to turn off the oven when its timer suddenly went off. "Focus on food. I made lasagna."

"That's new."

"I found a great recipe. Or at least I hope it's a great recipe. The picture looked pretty good."

He grabbed two potholders and opened the oven door, carefully sliding out the pan and setting it down on top of the stove. "The picture couldn't have looked better than this. It's amazing."

"Thanks." She studied his face, raising an eyebrow at his smile. "You seem like you had a great day."

"Didn't get as much done as I would've liked but I can't complain. How about you? Everything go okay? Have any meetings?"

"Just one."

"Did you get a lot done?"

Mercedes gave an elusive grin and handed him forks to put on the table. "Yeah, I'd say we made some progress."

_"You're really good at this." The congressman let out what seemed like his hundredth satisfied sigh._

_ Mercedes nodded even though he couldn't see her silent action, leaning a bit closer to him to catch a glimpse of the time on his watch. He felt her chest brushing against him and tilted his head back. She fought the urge to knock him out of his chair; instead, her hand lifted to run her fingers through his auburn hair. "Tell me something about yourself, Andrew. I'm a registered voter. What do you stand for?"_

_ "Truth, justice, and the American Way."_

_ She chuckled. His answer reminded her strongly of something Sam Evans, a closeted comic book nerd/jock from her high school years, would easily blurt out when asked that same question. "Really."_

_ Lingold shifted in his seat. "You want to know where I stand on…issues?"_

_ "You're a congressman, aren't you?"_

_ "Yes. Of course. I just…" He gave a short, puzzled laugh. "This isn't what I expected when I made this appointment."_

_ Appointment. Like this was some kind of casual lunch meeting. Mercedes tilted her head to the side, silently waiting for him to answer her initial question._

_ Finally, he acquiesced. "My main platform was concerning Homeland Security. I'm a very vocal ally to Pat Reid." _

_ "The senator who's been pushing for closer monitoring of America's corporations?"_

_ "That's right." _

_ "Interesting." She gave his shoulders one last squeeze and walked backward toward the bed, brushing aside the jacket she had worn earlier to pick up her Walther PP semi-automatic pistol. "I've heard that Senator Reid is very concerned at the idea that big businesses might use certain technological…skillsets of their employees to undermine the government." _

_ Lingold let out a surprised chuckle. "Right again. You've done your research."_

_ "Some, yes. And I've also heard that the senator is worried that one day an employee will break away from the business and take control. Make threats. Hold information hostage."_

_ "Wow you're informed. How…?" He glanced over his shoulder at her and then sprang to his feet, eyes widening. "What are you doing? Is that a gun? What is this?"_

_ Mercedes squared her shoulders and aimed it at his head. "Noah Puckerman. You and Reid have decided to take him under your wing so to speak. Why?"_

_ The congressman took a few tentative steps back, lifting shaking hands. "He's just a kid. Doesn't know what he's getting himself into. We're trying to help him. If those files get in the wrong hands…"_

_ "He's selling the data tomorrow night in New York. You need to tell me the exact location."_

_ "So you can kill him?" There was a bit of passion suddenly in Lingold's eyes. "Look lady, I don't know who you are or what you have to do with any of this but…"_

_ Mercedes stepped forward quickly and kicked him in the mouth, careful not to let her heel do too much damage. He dropped to his knees with a grunt. She shook her head. "You misunderstand. I'm not requesting the information." Her pistol lowered until it was pressed to his forehead. "I'm demanding it."_

Finn shook his head slowly from side to side, resisting the urge to lick his fork clean even as he set it down beside his empty plate. "That…was amazing. I mean, _really_ amazing."

Mercedes grinned and took a last bite of lasagna. "Thanks, babe. I wish I could say you can enjoy it tomorrow night as leftovers but…" She glanced behind her at the thoroughly cleaned-out pan on the kitchen counter. "There will be no leftovers."

"Sorry about that. Take it as a compliment to your cooking."

"Oh I do." She stood and began clearing off the table. "So how's Matt doing? Did he and Valerie have fun on their vacation in Rio last week?"

"They had a blast." Or rather Matt had the blast since he was the one who blew up a building while Valerie was taking a tour of a church. A vacation was never truly a vacation. Finn stood also, taking his plate and glass to drop in the sink. "Lucky. I wish I could get out of the country every once in a while."

Mercedes gave him a sympathetic pat on the arm. "Who knows? Maybe one day you'll get the opportunity to manage a foreign business. That'd be a nice adventure for you."

"Yeah. Just what I need."

**First Floor of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel**

**Washington DC**

_Finn handed the taxi driver a fifty dollar bill and winked. "Keep the change." The driver gave an enthusiastic wave before pulling away from the curb. He turned to see Matt waiting for him by the doors of the hotel. "So what's this about? What are we doing here?"_

_ "You heard about the kid selling government secrets right?" They walked through the entrance, saying quick thank you's to the man holding open the door. Matt scanned the enormous lobby carefully before motioning toward the service desk. _

_ Finn crossed his arms and leaned against the desk with a shrug. "I heard we were looking for him. Didn't find him. Realized that someone else was looking for him. Didn't find them either. But since when is that on me and you? Weren't Thompson and Morgan…?"_

_ "They were needed elsewhere. This one's on us now. We tracked the assassin looking for him." Matt lowered his voice to a whisper as the woman behind the desk finally lifted her face from her computer screen and started toward them. "We don't have a name or a face. All we know is she's trying to eliminate Puckerman; we need to eliminate her."_

_ So much for a quiet day at the office. Finn groaned under his breath and turned to smile broadly at the receptionist. "Good afternoon."_

_ "Good afternoon, sirs. What can I do for you today?" _

_ Matt glanced at the time displayed on the digital clock hanging on the wall behind her head. "We're looking for a woman. She would have come in just about twenty minutes ago." The receptionist's eyes narrowed in thought. He added, "She was meeting someone on the fifth floor." _

_ "Ah!" She nodded firmly. "Yes. Sorry. It's been quite the busy afternoon already. You're looking for Congressman Lingold's guest."_

_ Finn frowned. "Congressman…She was meeting with a congressman?"_

_ "Yes sir." There was a pause and the woman glanced between the two men inquisitively. "Can I help you with anything else? Were you interested in a room?"_

_ Matt shook his head. "We'll need that room number."_

_ "The congressman's room number?" She let out a nervous giggle, her eyes shifting from side to side. "I'm sorry, sir. I can't give you that information, and I'm sure he wouldn't want to be bothered."_

_ "Of course. Yes. I understand." Matt stepped back from the desk and pulled his suit jacket so that she could clearly see his K100 Whisper. Her eyes widened; he let his jacket fall back again. "Room number?"_

_ "554."_

_ Matt nodded, immediately turning to the elevators. Finn thumped a fist on top of the desk, his smile appropriately remorseful. "Thanks."_

_ Neither man spoke in the elevator, instead focusing on readying their weapons. They were both out of the elevator before the doors even fully opened. Finn pointed. "554. Right there. You wanna go soft or hard on this one?"_

_ Matt grinned. "Let's go soft."_

_ "Your call. Personally, I like kicking doors down." Finn raised a fist and knocked._

_ It was several seconds before they even heard movement on the other side and the brushing sound of someone pressing themselves on the wall of the room. "Who is it?"_

_ "Open the door, Congressman. You don't want me to ask again."_

_ The door was slowly cracked open and Finn shouldered his way in, followed closely by Matt. Congressman Lingold, a tall, nervous-looking man, inched his way from the door to sit on the edge of the sofa. They immediately noticed the bruise starting to shadow the left side of his face. "What do you want? Who are you?"_

_ Finn gave a low whistle. "Nice room. Are you the only one in it?"_

_ "What do you...?" Matt took out his gun with a sigh, and Lingold visibly trembled. "Please. I don't know what you want."_

_ Finn took a few steps away to glance into the expansive bathroom. "There was a woman in here. Where is she now?"_

_ "A woman…?"_

_ Matt's gun rose. "Don't play with us. The woman who met you in this room, where is she?"_

_ The man placed his head in his hands. "She's gone."_

_ "Gone where?"_

_ Finn walked back toward them after taking careful note of the room. "She didn't pass us in the lobby. Where did she go?" _

_ "Out the window." _

_ Matt and Finn shared a look. Matt leaned toward Lingold. "Say again?"_

_ The congressman raised his head, roughly running a hand through his hair. "She went out the window. Five minutes ago."_

_ Finn reached the room's window with two long strides, jerking open the curtains to peer out of it. When he turned back to Matt and Lingold, his gaze was skeptical. "Out the window…to where?"_

"Your phone is ringing." Mercedes took her hands from out of the soapy sink water and dried them off on a dish towel, grabbing the cellphone from the counter. "Finn, your phone is ringing. Says it's Matt."

"Matt?" He tore his gaze away from the basketball game playing on the television with a frown. "Throw it over, will you?"

She tossed it to land beside him on the couch. "It's a little late for him to be calling, isn't it? Do you think something's wrong at…?"

"Nah. Probably just wants to make sure we're still golfing tomorrow," he said reassuringly, standing. "Don't worry about it. I'll be upstairs, okay?"

"Okay. Tell him I said hey."

"Will do." Finn jogged to the stairs and then glanced back at her as she turned to continue washing the dishes. He waited until he was upstairs with their bedroom door firmly closed behind him to raise the phone to his ear. "What the hell are you calling my house for this late at night?"

Matt's voice sounded almost frantic. "They found a camera across the street that faces The Ritz-Carlton. It took a bit of work to hack into the video files but we know who the woman is."

"The woman who met the congressman?"

"I don't even know how to tell you this, man. I had to see the footage myself before I believed St. James. You know how he can be a bit…"

"C'mon, spit it out." Finn walked toward the door and listened for a moment to make sure his wife hadn't gotten curious. When he heard nothing, he groaned impatiently. "Spit it _out_."

"It's Mercedes."

Finn blinked. "…What's Mercedes?"

"The woman." There was a tense pause on the other end before Matt spoke again. "Mercedes is the assassin. She's the one after Puckerman."

"My Mercedes?"

"Yeah."

"Mercedes as in…my wife Mercedes?"

"Trust me on this, Hudson. It's her."

"_My_ Mercedes doesn't even know how to hold a gun, let alone shoot one. _My_ Mercedes can't even watch action movies with gore in them without me holding her the entire time. _My_ Mercedes makes a perfect lasagna!"

"Well it looks like your Mercedes also kills people for a living."

Finn sank down onto his bed, staring at the carpet emotionlessly. "What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"You do what you'd do with anyone else." Matt sighed. "Take her out. Now."

**The third (and probably last) part of this prompt will be up as soon as possible.**

**Please review and tell me what you think! **


	10. Barracuda: Part Three

**Author's Note: **As I said with "One and Only" readers, thank you so much for waiting for an update! It's been a crazy month with not much time for writing so it's great to finally be able to make some headway on this fic. As always, please review and leave song suggestions/prompts for Finncedes!

**Hudson-Jones Residence **

**Silver Spring, Maryland**

"Sorry, Matt. Fairly certain I misheard you because there is no way in _hell_ that you just told me to off my wife."

"Oh trust me that's not coming from me. The hit's been called in."

Finn tightened his grip on his cellphone until his knuckled turned stark white. "So if I don't…"

"Yeah. Somebody else will." There was a muffled voice on the other line; he could hear Matt call out something reassuring to Valerie. His wife Valerie. His wife Valerie who very fortunately was not a trained assassin. He heard Matt walk up the stairs of his own home and then his concerned sigh. "You're still on the line. Is there something you're still confused about, Hudson?"

"Are you really being sarcastic with me right now?"

"Not intentionally but if it gets you off your ass to do something…"

"Fine." Finn stood from the bed. "Here I go."

"Good luck. Don't call me if you need anything. I actually really like Mercedes."

He fought the urge to roll his eyes as he ended the call. Placing his phone on the dresser by the bedroom door and leaning forward to glance down the staircase, Finn made his way swiftly to the guest room at the end of the hall. He sat down at the desk against the wall and unseeingly moved his hand underneath. The spare Ruger, kept in a compartment effectively hidden there, slipped down into his palm. Taking off his shoes at the top of stairs, he walked downstairs, barely making a sound.

Mercedes was still standing at the sink, scrubbing the lasagna pan so vigorously that water was splashing. Finn raised his gun toward her and asked, voice calm as ever, "Need any help, babe?"

She shook her head slightly. "I thought this might happen. Must not have used enough butter to grease it."

"Pretty sure you used all the butter in the house. That lasagna could've been made by Paula Deen." No. No small talk. Not with the woman you love, not when she's unarmed and doing the dishes and looking beautiful and innocent. Finn sighed. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. He saw her dry her hands and reach to the side to the drawer by the sink. "Going for the good sponge?"

"Yeah. The good sponge." Mercedes turned on her heel and faced him, the Glock 35 in her hand steady and pointed directly at his heart. "Or this."

Finn looked from the gun to her face to the drawer back to her face again in disbelief. "Are you serious? 'Cedes, how long has that been in there?"

She took a slow step forward and extended her leg to close the drawer gracefully with a bare foot. "Since last March. You never do the dishes."

"You always said I couldn't do the dishes because I never scrubbed the bowls enough!"

"That wasn't a lie. But I also didn't want you finding the gun." Mercedes tilted her head to the side. "You can understand why not, right honey?"

"Yeah, that's about all I can understand about this entire situation, _sweetheart_," Finn retorted. They stood with guns aimed at each other in silence for a moment before he groaned exasperatedly. "Oh come on. This can't be right. You are _not_ an assassin. You're my wife!"

She raised an eyebrow cynically. "You're my husband and I've completely accepted the fact that you came down here to try to kill me." He followed her finger as she pointed toward her own cellphone lying on the counter near the stove. "They filled me in while you were upstairs talking to Matt. You've got a hit on me now, and, Finn honey, I completely understand. You've got to follow orders."

He frowned. "…What?"

"You don't think I wouldn't kill _you_ if my boss told me to?"

"Well I should _hope_ not!"

"Hope all you like but I really would." Mercedes smiled. "Follow your orders, Mr. Hudson. And I'll follow mine." She pulled the trigger. "It's all part of the job."

**Lower East Side **

**New York**

_"I can't be distracted! What about that is confusing you people?" Noah Puckerman slammed a fist down beside his computer's keyboard, narrowly missing the flash driving sitting on the desk. _

_"Watch it, kid." The older man behind him spoke from behind what seemed like a wall of cigar smoke. He lifted a hand to wave it away, allowing Puckerman to see his glower. "I paid good money for that." _

_ The eighteen-year-old could barely hide his smirk. "It's information that I got for you. Trust me, Rocca, I can get more." _

_ A burly man stepped forward, blocking Puckerman's view of his criminal kingpin boss. "Mr. Rocca doesn't want to give you any opportunity to screw him over."_

_ "Any opportunity to…?" Puckerman gestured toward his computer screen incredulously. "Are you kidding? I give you guys a little bit of information-gold so you can make sure no one gets in the way of tonight's meeting and now I find out that there are not one but two agencies who want me dead! Excuse me if I'm wrong, but being dead would definitely be a roadblock in my plan." _

_ Rocca's gravelly accented voice interrupted his associate even as the other man began to argue. "Don't worry about it." _

_ "I just said that they're trying to kill me!"_

_ "And I said don't worry about it. My people have got it handled."_

_ "Handle it how?"_

_ The associate raised a pitch-black eyebrow at him. "You gonna ask questions or let us do our job?"_

_ Puckerman looked from the man to his screen, reluctantly choosing to continue his work in silence._

**_So this ain't the end - I saw you again today_**

**_I had to turn my heart away_**

"Son of a bitch!" Mercedes rolled behind their sofa just as a bullet embedded itself into the hard wood making up part of its armrest. She raised a hand to her right arm, scowling as her fingertips came back covered in blood.

Moving to get behind the wall that separated their living room from the stairs and jogging to the small dresser where they usually dropped weekly paper, Finn dropped his Ruger and, accessing a compartment, pulled out the Smith & Wesson hidden there. "You doing okay, 'Cedes?" He ducked at the sound of the wall being punched in by 25mm ammunition. Chunks of plaster hit him against his back and head, driving him to his knees with the impact.

Mercedes' voice drifted to him from the living room, sweet as candy. "You just grazed me."

"Where the hell did you get an XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System?"

"What, you _don't_ have one?"

He shot a few rounds past the now-destroyed wall, unsuccessfully following her body as she evaded fire. "Oh I do. Mine's in the linen closet."

"Let me guess, it's on the top shelf under those god-awful towels I told you not to buy."

"Because they're yellow?"

"Because they're the ugliest _shade_ of yellow I've ever seen!"  
>Mercedes pressed the remnants of her shirtsleeve against the broken skin on her bicep, wincing as her arm screamed in pain to the point where she had to drop her gun to the floor momentarily. "And if you go to get that stupid rifle, Finn, I swear I'll blow you to Kingdom Come."<p>

Finn crouched and stole a quick peek over at her. No sign. She was still somewhere behind the sofa. "You know, I don't _want_ to hurt you, 'Cedes."

She rolled her eyes. "A little late to be saying that, don't you think?"

"You said your arm was just grazed."

"_You_ said you worked for a corporate office."

There was a pause while Finn lowered his gun and stared at the area of the sofa she was probably behind. "I...you've been gallivanting around the world for years now getting shot at when I've been thinking you're safe and sound! Mercedes…!" He let out a deep, frustrated breath. "I can't believe you kept this from me."

Mercedes maneuvered her body so that she was sitting against the sofa, resting her head back and closing her eyes. Damn, her arm hurt. She slowly extended her arm across her body to drag her gun into her lap. "I'm not the only one who kept a pretty big secret, Finn. In fact, it's basically the same secret."

"We're both liars who lie," he whispered mournfully.

"Don't be dramatic."

Her voice seemed a little tight. Finn grimaced. His wife was in pain. "We should get your arm cleaned up and wrapped."

"I'll clean and wrap it when this is over. So…when you're dead. When you're dead, I'll take care of it."

"Right." He stood to his feet and returned to the small dresser, setting his gun on top of it and pulling out its drawer to get the first aid kit. "I found the gauze and antiseptic."

"Throw it over if you're so concerned."

"I'm coming toward you."

Mercedes quickly gripped her gun in her left hand, shaking her head firmly from side to side even though he couldn't see her motion. "Don't you dare."

He took slow steps in her direction, passing by the safety of the ruined wall and approaching the sofa. His heart almost hurt at the sight of their 50'' television with a huge hole in the center. "I really hope insurance covers this. Maybe we can convince them that it was a drive-by?"

"Not likely. Not in a Maryland suburb. Finn Hudson, if you come over here, I'll…!"

"What you'll do, 'Cedes, is let your husband wipe your arm and get you bandaged up." He came to stand beside the sofa, looking down at her with both hands clutching the kit. Mercedes aimed her gun; he shrugged. "Shoot me if you want but I left _my_ gun over there."

Her hand didn't waver. "If you're anything like me, you have a spare under the cushions of the sofa that you'll grab any chance you get."

"How long have you been hiding a gun in our sofa cushions?"

"Since May."

"Damn." Finn crouched and beckoned her closer. "Come on. I'm done. _This_ is done. I'm not going to kill you."

"You have orders!"

"You're my wife! Now get the hell over here!" When she made no effort to move, he lifted a hand to rest on the gun's barrel and gently put pressure on it until she lowered it. Finn sat by her side, jerking open the kit. "Can't believe you think I could actually go through with something like that."

Mercedes watched his hands carefully as he un-wrapped the pack of antiseptic wipes. "I would have." She dropped the gun again to the floor. Her nose wrinkled as she felt the sting of the antiseptic.

"Sorry. Probably stings a bit."

"Finn. I've been hurt before."

"Not by me."

"I've been hurt worse."

"Not by _me_. This is worst because I did it." He pressed the gauze against her skin and then taped it down quickly.

She stifled the urge to grin when he lowered his face to press a gentle kiss on exposed skin of her shoulder. "Really though?"

He raised her eyes to hers. "Yeah. Really. And you wouldn't have gone through with it either. Wanna know why, Mrs. Hudson?"

"Oh please don't be corny right now," she muttered under her breath.

"Because you love me."

"You lied to me." Mercedes narrowed her eyes. "All those nights you were on a relaxing run…you were out there getting hurt too."

"Yeah, I've actually never come back home hurt so…" The end of his sentence was interrupted by his wife's full lips meeting his. Not breaking the contact, Finn raised himself slightly and straddled her, careful not to put any of his weight on her petite frame. His large hands went to either side of her face; it was a full minute before he removed his mouth from hers. Both were breathing heavily. "Okay…what…what was that for?"

Mercedes lifted her uninjured arm so that it was slung across his shoulder. "I'm just glad the first time you've gotten hurt on the job is now that I have the chance to kick your ass, baby."

"I'm not even hurt!"

She glanced down at her gun and then shrugged. "Apparently I do love you."

Finn lowered his hands, one to support her back and one underneath her legs, easily lifting her into his arms and standing. "You know, after five years of marriage…that's a relief."

**_Smiled like the sun – kisses for everyone_**

**_And tales – it never fails_**

The only light in Mercedes' and Finn's master bedroom was a sliver of moonlight shining in from behind the curtains and falling to stretch across their dozing figures. Mercedes lay with her head on Finn's chest; his fingers were lazily lifting curls of her hair only to let them drop again on her naked shoulders. Both of them let out a loud groan as their cell phones rang simultaneously. Finn planted a kiss on the top of her head. "Don't get it. We deserve a break."

"We're probably gonna get a break. A nice, long break that's called forced retirement." She reached out and grabbed hers. "You for not following orders and me for being stupid enough to marry someone with the same job as me. Hell, even after we're forced out of our agencies, I still have to deal with the hit that's out on me now."

"Right." He reluctantly sat up and grabbed his own phone, pressing it to his ear as Mercedes answered hers. "Hello?"

Mercedes' eyes widened. "Tina?"

"Matt?"

"Where?"

"How long?"

"Why?" Their gazes locked on each other at the sound of the same question being asked at the same time. Finn passed a hand over his face, nodding. "No. I'm coming. I'll be there. I don't know with who; I'll call in favors if I have to! Deal with your side of it." He ended the call with a tap of his finger.

Mercedes was sitting up straight beside him, face devoid of emotion. She jumped out of the bed just as Finn was reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. "They've got Tina."

"_Who_ has Tina?" Never mind the fact that this meant sweet Tina from the office was probably also a lethal assassin. At the very least, she was an assistant to one.

"Rocca? Vargas? Who knows? They've just got her."

Finn grabbed his shirt from where he'd thrown it on the floor, watching his wife put on her bra again. "They've got Matt too."

She paused in the middle of putting an arm into her shirt. "What?"

"Matt. They've got him."

"New York?"

"Yeah. Somewhere on the Lower East Side." Mercedes tossed her pillow aside and lifted the mattress up; Finn's eyes widened at the two semi-automatic pistols she pulled out. "Are you kidding me right now? How long have you been sleeping on those?"

"Since we moved here." Her eyes narrowed in thought. "We're both going to the same place for once. It's Puckerman. He knows we're on to him-I'm assuming your people are too-and he's trying to get rid of us."

Finn buckled his belt and made his way over to her. "You should stay here. I'll go."

"…What the hell?"

"I'll go and I'll get both of them. Tina _and_ Matt." He looked her up and down, shaking his head. "You said it yourself, didn't you? The kid is using them to get us out of the way. I'm not putting you in danger like that."

Mercedes stared at him for a moment. Finally, she lifted both of the pistols in her hands. "Finn Hudson, this is what we _do_. This is what _I_ do. Either come and work _with_ me or I'll make it so you can't stop me, let alone walk."

"I suppose I'm just supposed to get used to my wife being an assassin?"

"It really would be easier if you did."

"Fine." Finn sighed. "We'll do this together."

"I thought you might see things my way." She finished getting dressed and then began walking toward the door; he followed directly after her. One foot out of the bedroom, Mercedes looked up at him from over her shoulder. "Mr. Hudson?"

He shrugged on his jacket, looking down at her with furrowed brows. "Yes, Mrs. Hudson?"

"Be sure to bring your little toy from the linen closet." Her eyes sparkled as she turned back around and started downstairs. "We're gonna need it."

**_And if the real thing don't do the trick_**

**_You better make up something quick_**

**_You gonna burn, burn, burn, burn, burn to the wink_**

**_Barracuda_**

**Please review. :-) I hope you all enjoyed this particular prompt!**


	11. Misguided Ghosts

**Author's Note: **Special thank you to everyone for waiting patiently for me to update. It's been a busy semester and finding the motivation/inspiration to write about Glee has been challenging due to the fact that I don't watch the show anymore. I will be updating my fics though! This chapter is based on reid4infinity2's song suggestion of Paramore's "Misguided Ghosts" and is an extension of Chapter 3.

**_I am going away for a while  
>But I'll be back, don't try and follow me<br>'Cause I'll return as soon as possible_**

**_See I'm trying to find my place But it might not be here where I feel safe  
>We all learn to make mistakes<em>**

Mercedes closed her eyes as her fiancée's lips brushed by hers in a short, chaste kiss. By the time she opened them again, he was already halfway across their apartment, pausing in front of their sofa to grab his laptop bag. She folded her arms across her body. "Noah?"

He turned toward her with a hand on the door knob. "Yeah babe?"

For a moment, she didn't even know what she had wanted to say to him. I love you? No. As in love with the idea of marriage and settling down as she was, the times those words came out of her mouth were few and far between. Noah seemed to like that. Honestly, she just wasn't used to saying it. Finn hadn't…She cut her train of thought short. Finn had been haunting her thoughts a bit too frequently for her liking. History repeating would do that.

Maybe it wasn't quite history repeating. After all, Noah had been quite apologetic when she had discovered him with Hilary Kipling inside his office a month ago. She'd gotten so many apologies from him that day alone that she had left the apartment just to escape from all of the apologies. Maybe that's what she really wanted to say to him. Stop reminding me of him. Stop making me wish for his lack of apologies over your false ones. Stop leaving here to go be with her.

His dark eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she just stood there behind the kitchen island looking back at him. Finally, he grinned warily. "You doing okay, baby?"

She blinked twice and then walked toward him. "I'm fine. Yeah. I just wanted to…" Her arms wrapped around his waist; she nodded into his chest as he reciprocated the gesture. "Have a good day, baby. I hope they like the new ad campaign."

Noah leaned back without releasing her from the embrace, winking conspiratorially. "They'd better _love_ the new campaign. There won't be enough time to tweak anything. But thanks." He nuzzled the top of her head before planting a kiss there.

When he turned to open the door, Mercedes' gaze bored into his back. "Are you coming straight home from the office?"

He didn't turn around; nevertheless, she could tell by the way his hand was gripping the door that his eyes had immediately narrowed and his mouth had become a grim line. "I'll be home by eight."

"Is that when you're done at the office?"

The door closed.

**_And run  
>From them, from them<br>With no direction  
>We'll run from them, from them<br>With no conviction _**

"Cut!"

Finn and his co-star Quinn Fabray disentangled themselves from each other, both slowly sitting up in the bed. Quinn groaned and attempted to smooth out her short blonde locks with a hand. "Are you kidding me?"

Their director stalked toward them with a scowl. "Kidding? I told you people I wanted a hot, steamy kiss and you give me awkward necking better suited for an indie film. What the hell, Hudson?"

"Why is this my fault?" Standing from the bed, Finn jabbed his thumb in Quinn's direction. "There's clearly two people in this scene. Don't single me out, Kurt."

"At least _she_ looks she's trying. _You're_ so out of the scene I might as well replace you with your stunt double."

Quinn shrugged. "I actually wouldn't mind that." Finn glowered at her from over his shoulder and made his way to the assortment of snacks that was always available for the cast on a table close to the set. She rolled her eyes and followed him, patting Kurt's shoulder reassuringly as she passed. By the time she reached Finn, he had his back toward her and was angrily chewing on a grape. "Drowning your sorrows in fruit? That's not like you."

"I can't even get one minute to myself?"

"Surrounded by cast and crew? No. No, you can't." Quinn moved to lean against the table so she could see his face. "You're upset."

"Decidedly more annoyed than upset, Fabray."

"Are you still pissed about…?"

He shook his head. "Don't. It's not even worth bringing up."

She fought the urge to release a wry chuckle. "Not worth bringing up but you're sulking like a lovesick teenage girl. Mercedes is getting married; it's not the end of the world."

"Is this supposed to be helping?"

Quinn helped herself to a small deli sandwich. Time was money but Kurt Hummel could wait. "I said she's _getting_ married. You've still got time."

"I've still got time, huh? Time to do what?" Finn grabbed another grape. "I'm here in New York. She's in Los Angeles, and it's not likely that I'll get time off."

"Not likely at all!" Kurt yelled.

Finn sighed and continued. "She's finally found someone who could make her happy, someone who could settle down with her, start a family with her. What kind of asshole would I be to come and ruin that for her?"

"You'd be an asshole who's in love with her."

**_'Cause I'm just one of those ghosts  
>Traveling endlessly<br>Don't need no roads  
>In fact they follow me<em>**

_**And we just go in circles**_

"New York?"

Noah shrugged and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, it's where my folks are from. My mom's pretty set on us having the wedding there. What's the point of arguing?"

Mercedes brought her hands down on the table, nearly knocking over her glass of wine. "Our wedding is in a month! I've been planning for it to be held here in LA. How the _hell_ do you expect me to plan a wedding in a month that's to be held in a city I don't even live in?"

"Easy." Oh, she could just shoot him for his nonchalance. Noah leaned forward to grasp her hand over the table. "We're moving to New York temporarily."

Her eyes widened. "…We're…doing what?"

"I found an apartment in Manhattan, a really nice apartment, 'Cedes. My brother Jake went over there this afternoon and he says you're gonna love it."

"Your brother has only met me once and that was at our engagement party. Who is he to say that I would love something? And why did you do this without talking to me? Did you really think this was a good idea?"

His thumb stroked the side of her hand soothingly. "C'mon, don't tell me you want to stay here. At the very least, you'll get me out of that office until the wedding."

She used her other hand to lift his, slowly scooting back her chair to stand. "We have to move across the country for you to stop screwing Hilary? You can't just keep it in your pants and pretend like you're ready for marriage?"

Her cold tone was obviously unexpected. Noah was speechless for a minute before clearing his throat nervously. "I…'Cedes, I'm ready for marriage. I _want_ to be with you. You should be happy that I want to take this step with you. And I know it's been hard trusting me lately. I get it. I messed up. But Hilary is nothing. She's been nothing to me since…" His gaze darted around the room as though he was literally looking for the words to say. "She's nothing to me, baby."

They stayed in silence for a seemingly interminable moment. Mercedes wrenched her gaze from his before it became tearful; turning her back to him in case he saw her distress. New York. They'd be in the same city as him. She and Noah would be saying their vows to each other in the same city as him. Her eyes closed tightly. Finn probably knew about the engagement. She had sent a wedding invitation to Carol, knowing his mother would bear her no ill will for marrying someone other than her son. Surely Carol had passed on the information. Maybe that was the reason she had sent the invitation in the first place. Maybe she had wanted him to know that she was doing fine. Better than fine.

She turned around so abruptly that Noah was startled. "When do we leave?"

"The apartment's ours. We can move in any time."

"When do we leave, Noah?"

"A week? Would that be okay?"

"A week. Fine." She sat back down at the table and continued eating her dinner.

Better than fine.

**_Well now I'm told that this is life  
>And pain is just a simple compromise<br>So we can get what we want out of it  
>Would someone care to classify,<br>Of broken hearts and twisted minds  
>So I can find someone to rely on<em>**

Noah closed their bedroom door and stood facing it, still as a statue. Finally noticing that he wasn't coming any further into the room, Mercedes looked up from the book she was reading in bed. "Is something wrong or…?"

"I know why you don't want to go to New York, 'Cedes. Took me a while but I figured it out."

She brought her legs up to her chest. "I agreed to go, Noah. We can drop it now."

He moved to stand at the foot of the bed, looking down at her disdainfully. "_Now_ we can drop it? Now that I know that that guy you lived with is in New York, we can drop the subject?"

"There's nothing to talk about, Noah."

"Have you been in contact with him since you left Canada?"

Mercedes slammed her book closed and tossed it to the side. "Of course not! I left Finn to get my life back and that's what I did. I left him behind. Do you really think I could do to you what you did to me?"

He chuckled. "No, 'Cedes. I realize more and more each day that you are a perfect individual who never makes mistakes like the rest of us."

"Stop." She held up a hand. "What exactly do you want to know? Do you want to know if I still want him? Are you wondering if you're second place?"

"Answers to those questions would be _amazing_, baby."

"I'm marrying you. That's all the answers you need." And it was all the answers she had. She couldn't blame him for not looking particularly convinced. Mercedes sighed, forcing herself to sound more like herself and less like Finn used to sound after a night together in Canada. "I'm marrying you, Noah. Not Finn. You. We're gonna go to New York and we're gonna get married there."

"And we're gonna live happily ever after? Faults and all?"

She didn't want to answer that. Who knew what their ending would be?

_Carol looked up sharply at the sound of Mercedes' footsteps at the bottom of the stairs and smiled broadly in greeting; she didn't quite hide the magazine in her hands quick enough to escape the younger woman's notice. Mercedes raised a single eyebrow, grinning at Carol's faux cheer. "You can keep reading it if you want. I saw the article earlier when Lucinda first brought home the groceries."_

_ "Mercedes, I just want you to know how sorry I am that…"_

_ "How sorry you are that your son found someone else?" She managed to shrug indifferently despite the fact that she had been staring at the article all afternoon. "New York is a huge city. Finn was bound to get a little lost."_

_ "He cares about you. He's coming here tonight to take you out to dinner. He…"_

_ Mercedes sat down on a stool on the other side of the kitchen counter with a chuckle. "You're right. He really must care. He cares enough to do damage control after two months of no contact." _

_ "Has it been that long?"_

_ Both women turned at the sound of Finn's voice. Mercedes immediately turned back; Carol narrowed her eyes at her son, whispering to Mercedes, "Please don't kill him."_

_ Mercedes silently held out a hand and Carol lifted the magazine from her lap. Finn watched their exchange from the door. His mother clicked her tongue at him and made her way upstairs. Mercedes' gaze followed her, decidedly more gentle. "You know, she's the only reason I'm still here."_

_ "Really?"_

_ She whirled around on the stool and slammed the magazine down on the counter in two simultaneous motions. "Yes, Finn. Really."_

_ He walked forward, looking more like the suave wealthy character he portrayed than himself. She couldn't help but feel hatred toward him. His unnecessary Gucci suit. The way he barely glanced at the magazine as though already dismissing the issue. Finn twisted the watch on his wrist. "You can't believe everything you read in those things, 'Cedes. We talked about that before I moved out to New York."_

_ "I think we both know I'm not being gullible and don't you dare be condescending to me right now."_

_ "I'm not trying to be condescending. We've got reservations; I don't want us to be late."_

_ "Reservations?" Mercedes got off of the stall and walked the two steps it took to be in front of him. "You're delusional if you think I'm going anywhere with you tonight." She glared down at the floor. "I'm been here waiting for you without a call or email…" _

_ He crossed his arms against his chest. "I've been busy. You know I've been busy."_

_ "Yeah, you have been busy, haven't you?" Her hand rose to cover her nose and mouth, slightly muffling her words. "Why the hell are you here, Finn? Why don't you just stay there? Be famous and forget about those you're leaving behind."_

_ Finn reached out to lower her hand, slowly so he wouldn't startle her. She glared up at him, brown eyes large as a doe and filled with smoldering rage. His own gaze was calm. Somehow he had missed this. Not her anger, he missed her passion, even this misplaced passion. "Paige is a co-star of mine."_

_ "Do you think I care about how you know her?"_

_ "I thought you might have been curious."_

_ "Well, I wasn't. I don't want to know anything about that woman. I don't need to. Keep that trivia to yourself."_

_ Deciding to keep to himself the fact that Paige's girlfriend had also been present in the damning picture the paparazzi had snapped of him at a cast party, Finn caught her arm as she started to storm off into the living room. "I came back to see you. I missed you. And whether you want to admit it or not, you missed me too."_

_ Mercedes felt his fingers intertwine with her own and closed her eyes. _

**_And run  
>To them, to them<br>Full speed ahead  
>Oh you are not useless<br>We are just..._**

"It's funny. I was always so scared to tell her that I loved her. She thought the worse of me sometimes and I just let her."

It had been a long shooting day. As soon as Kurt released the cast and crew for the day, Quinn demanded that Finn walk her to the restaurant nearby where her husband Mike was waiting. "Chalk it up to nosiness," she had said.

Now as they walked and the night breeze gently swept past them, she swatted down the material of her summer dress impatiently. "Why would you _let_ someone think the worst of you? That makes no sense, Hudson. I mean, she left because she didn't know you love her but you do love her and the entire reason she didn't know that you did was because you never told her." Her hand collided with his chest with a smack. "Why am I feeling sorry for you? This is clearly all your fault."

"Thanks." He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Really. Thanks."

She shrugged. "I'm just being honest."

**_...Misguided ghosts  
>Traveling endlessly<em>**

Neither Quinn nor Finn saw their director excitedly cross the street and embrace a woman on the other side. Kurt placed his hands on either side of Mercedes' face, smiling broadly. "I can't believe you're here!"

Her smile wasn't quite as broad. "You're not the only one."

He looped his arm with hers and they began walking toward a restaurant further down the street. "Haven't seen you in…how long has it been?"

"Two years." Mercedes rested her head against his shoulder, allowing herself to smile despite the anticipation that had been growing within her ever since she and Noah had arrived that morning. "Finn's audition."

Kurt smiled even wider at the memory. "You were more of a nervous wreck than he was. I felt like you knew his lines better than he did. Such a cute couple, I thought. Couldn't believe it when he said you were living with his mom in Canada and I almost punched him in the face when he said you'd left him."

"Punched _him_? You were so sure it wasn't my fault?"

Kurt pursed his lips incredulously as they sidestepped a man who was selling knock-off purses. "Please. He was moping like it was his fault because it _was_ his fault. He told me so."

Mercedes stopped short. "Finn told you it was his fault?"

"I know. Such a step in the right direction. But anyway…" He nudged her in the side with his elbow. "You're getting married in New York! That's so romantic!"

"I really hadn't been thinking of it that way."

"Because instead of getting excited about your upcoming nuptials, you've been thinking about being in the same city as Finn for the first time in a year."

"Can you blame me?"

"Wouldn't dream of blaming you." Kurt's gaze subtly followed two figures as they began crossing the street in front of the restaurant. "So if you did see Finn in New York…?"

Mercedes made an unconcerned sound under her breath. "It's not likely. He's not looking for me and I'm pretty sure Noah would lose his damn mind if I went looking for him."

**_And there's no one road  
>We should not be the same<br>But I'm just a ghost  
>And still they echo me<em>**

"Why are you slowing down? The restaurant's right ahead."

Finn quickly glanced down at Quinn's hand on his arm and then regained his pace of walking across the street. "She looks just like her."

Quinn frowned in confusion. "Who are you talking about?"

Ignoring her question, he began jogging toward the restaurant. Mercedes lived in Los Angeles and was getting married in less than a month, but it was her standing there with her back to him speaking to his director. They reached the other side of the street, and Finn paused before taking a hesitant step toward her and Kurt. "Mercedes?"

Kurt motioned for Quinn to follow him inside; Mercedes turned slowly. Her gaze roved intently over every inch of him, eyes narrowing for a moment as though she couldn't believe he was in front of her. A year without seeing his face, apart from images on magazine, and she had to convince herself that he was there.

Finally, she inclined her head in a nod. "Finn."

**_They echo me in circles_**

**Don't hate me for that cliffhanger. Review and send me prompts/song suggestions! Next up should be a "The Devil Wears Prada"-esque chapter inspired by IslandGem's prompt!**


	12. Why Can't I?: Part One

**Author's Note: **Based on Liz Phair's "Why Can't I?" and a prompt by IslandGem. This is only the first part because it was getting really long and I hit a bit of a writer's block. It would be super helpful to get reviews/suggestions on what should happen next.

_Cynthia Jones winced at the sound of a box thumping as it descended down the staircase and then the muffled crash of its contents breaking. "Don't tell me that was the box with the crystal chess set in it."_

_ Her husband paused in his task of opening their packing boxes with a butter knife and walked until he could peer up at the eight-year-old staring down at him. After chuckling a bit, he returned to the kitchen. "I won't tell you that then."_

_ "Oh for heaven's sake, I just gave you that set for your birthday, Robert!"_

_ "It lasted a good week and a half, Cynthia." _

_ She planted her hands on her hips and called out, "Mercedes Jones, get down here!" _

_ Their daughter came shuffling down the stairs and hallway dejectedly. "I didn't mean to. I thought it was my…"_

_ Cynthia shook her head, raising a hand for silence. "Why don't you stay down here and help your father unpack these décor pillows while I go see the damage?"_

_ "Oh. Okay!" Mercedes practically skipped over to her father, relieved that a punishment didn't seem imminent. "Hi Dad!"_

_ He tweaked one of her shoulder-length curls lovingly. "Hey munchkin." He winked at his wife and gestured for her to go ahead. _

_ With a sigh, Cynthia made her way toward the front of the house. One week and a half was the usual life expectancy for fragile gifts given to members of the Jones family. She was suddenly very glad that she had personally handled the packing and unpacking of the glassware and ceramic plates her sister had given her back in Georgia. _

_ She barely had time to glance into the box before the doorbell suddenly rang, the unexpected sound causing her to jump. "Robert? Where we expecting someone? One of your patients maybe?"_

_ Robert's laugh was a resounding no. "We've been in Lima for less than twelve hours, Cynthia. I don't have patients here yet. It's probably just a neighbor coming to say hello and welcome to the neighborhood. You know how news travels in these small towns."_

_ Cynthia slowly opened the door. A family of three stood on their porch: a tall, lean man wearing an army uniform, a woman with the kindest face she had ever seen, and a lanky, brown-haired boy who could've been mistaken for his father's clone. The man stepped forward and extended his hand, which she quickly shook. "We're the Hudson family, ma'am. My wife Carol here was insistent that we come over and introduce ourselves." The woman's smile broadened as she flushed. "This is our son Finn. He…"_

_ "Do you have kids?" Finn held out to Cynthia the cookie tin he was carrying tight to his chest._

_ His father sighed. "Finn."_

_ She waved off his concern, grinning at the boy's enthusiasm. "We have two kids, Finn. Marcus is twelve. He's already holed himself up in his new room, getting it covered in Star Wars decorations. Our daughter Mercedes is about your age, I think. Are you eight?" He gave a shy nod. "Thought so." She opened the door even wider and stepped aside so the family could enter. "Come on in. I'm sure my husband Robert would love to meet you all."_

_ "Can Mercedes sing?"_

_ Carol Hudson leaned over a bit to be closer to her son's ear. "Finn, no recruiting right now."_

_ "Of course I can sing." Mercedes came around the corner, staring openly at their guests._

_ Cynthia walked to stand behind her, giving her a gentle push forward. "Mercy baby, this is Mr. and Mrs. Hudson and their son Finn. They're our new neighbors." _

_ Robert extended an arm. "Why don't we let the kids get to know each other while we head into the family room? Just this way." He shook Mr. Hudson's hand as they walked._

_ Mercedes regarded Finn warily, not speaking until she could hear the adults settling into the other room. "Why do you care if I can sing?"_

_ "There's a choir at school. We're looking for new talent," he said importantly. "Miss Shelby made me her helper."_

_ "So you sing?"_

_ "Not if I can help it. I'm learning to be a real good drummer though. My friend Puck plays guitar. It's his very own guitar too. His mom gave it to him."_

_ She wrinkled up her nose. "Your friend is named after a hockey puck?"_

_ Finn shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. Wanna join the choir?"_

_ "Maybe. I don't know," Mercedes echoed, feeling suddenly anxious about starting school the next day. "I won't know anyone."_

_ "You'll know me!"_

_ "I guess. But I just met you."_

_ Finn's frown was almost indignant. "But we can be friends. And I'll tell you about Lima. It's kind of boring here if you don't know the neighborhood. Actually, it's boring either way…but it'd be better with me."_

_ She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "How do I know you're not gonna just leave me as soon as I start school?"_

_ He tilted his head to the side, staring at her for a moment. "I'm gonna stick with you, Mercy. I won't leave you. Not ever."_

**_Holding hands with you when we're out at night  
>Got a girlfriend, you say it isn't right<br>And I've got someone waiting too_**

Mercedes closed her eyes tightly and then opened them again, repeating the act several times until they no longer felt as though they were going close on their own accord. She glanced over her shoulder at the clock on the wall and sighed. Fifth night in a row that she had been at the office after ten o'clock and there was still so much work to do.

Lynda Handler, the successful and successfully intimidating founder of fashion magazine_ Le Beau_, had left promptly at eight that night, saying something about having plans. Mercedes had stared at her as she collected her things and left the office without so much as a goodbye. Plans? "I had a plan to sleep tonight," she had muttered under her breath as the elevator doors closed behind her boss. There was an entire spread to design and complete. A hundred photos from the Milan Fashion Shows to weed through and select for Lynda's review and God forbid that woman disapproved of one of her choices.

She almost jumped out of her chair when her cellphone began ringing loudly from her purse, interrupting the eerie quiet of the office. Still a little out of breath from the scare, she quickly answered it after seeing the name of the caller. "What's up?"

Finn scoffed on the other line. "What's up is that I came home from a lousy day at work four hours ago hoping to spend the night vegetating on the couch with my best friend. I waited and waited and waited but guess what? She's still at the office, slaving away. Is Handler even there anymore?"

"She left two hours ago. I've gotta finish this spread before…"

"Before tomorrow morning?"

"Well not exactly but…"

He chuckled. "Then get down here, 'Cedes. You've been doing long nights all week and tonight you're gonna relax."

Mercedes rolled her eyes, slumping down in her chair and picking up one photo after the other distractedly. "Oh, tonight I'm gonna relax? Says who?"

"Says the guy freezing his butt off outside your building."

"What the hell…? You're here? Now?"

"Yeah that's right, I'm walking you home tonight. Hurry up. The security guard keeps looking at me like…Oh crap, he's coming over. Get down here!"

"On my way!" Mercedes heard the security guard ask Finn what his business was before she ended the call. Throwing the photos into her bag, she grabbed her coat from the back of her chair and made her way out the door.

At least a year and a half ago, she and Finn had made the move to Chicago after both had gotten job offers in the city. Finn was quick to ask permission to share their cheap apartment. They had already been inseparable for more than a decade; her mother easily convinced her father to approve. Mercedes was convinced it would be an awful idea, living with her best friend, but even she had to admit it was a nice arrangement. Her boyfriend Shane, a Chicago-native who always busy working his way through graduate school, didn't seem to mind the fact that they were so close. Finn's on-and-off-again girlfriend Brittany seemed to think Mercedes was his adopted sister due to their long-time connection; they stopped bothering to correct her after the first few months of confusion.

By the time Mercedes had walked out of the elevator and into the first floor's expansive lobby, the security guard was back at his post, eyeing Finn warily again. She smiled at him as she passed. "Have a good evening, Mr. Figgins."

He pointed a tan finger and said in his thick accent, "That man out there says you know him. Is this a lie, ma'am?"

Finn looked like a lost puppy standing out in the cold. She grinned, shrugging at him before nodding. "I guess I'll claim him. Just this once."

"Alright." Figgins almost looked disappointed that he wouldn't have to make a dramatic arrest. "Have a good night. Be safe, Miss Jones."

Mercedes buttoned her coat and stepped out into the chilly night air. She sucked in her breath sharply. "Good Lord…!"

"Yeah, cold, isn't it?" Finn came alongside her, holding out a pair of gloves. "I found these on top of the microwave. Thought you might need them."

"Thank you!"

He watched her put them in a rush of movement. "Ready to go?"

"_Very_ ready to go." They started walking; she snuggled into his side to get as much warmth from his tall frame as she could.

Finn glanced down and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "What're you doing staying that late tonight anyway? I thought Shane had a trip to the Chicago Symphony planned for you."

"Okay first, thanks for cluing me in but I'm pretty sure where we were going was supposed to be a surprise…"

"Ooops."

"And second..." She reached an arm back to rest a gloved hand on the small of his back so they could walk close together more comfortably. "Plans change. He decided to stay in and finish some research for his thesis tonight."

"He picked some boring thesis over you?" Mercedes slapped his back; Finn laughed. "_What_? It was a compliment."

"Not toward Shane it wasn't. You know he works and studies hard." She tilted her head upward to narrow her eyes at him. "And besides, weren't _you_ supposed to be staying at Britt's tonight?"

Finn raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, were you looking forward to coming home to an empty apartment?"

"Avoiding the question, I see. Trouble in paradise?"

"_No_." Mercedes looked at him pointedly, and he gasped in mock offense. "Your plans are allowed to change without anything going wrong but mine can't?" Her silence was his answer. "Okay fine, I'm…I'm trying to figure out how to break things off with her."

"What happened?" The last time she had seen the two of them together they'd looked happy enough. Well, Brittany looked happy enough. Finn looked a bit resigned.

He flushed and it wasn't because of the cold air whipping around them. "She thinks I'm in love with someone else and…for once she's right about something." Mercedes pulled away suddenly and turned to face him. They were standing directly in front of their apartment building. Finn glanced at the building and then looked back at her, decidedly confused. "…What?"

The look on her face was something akin to disgust. "How the hell did you fall in love with someone else? If you're not with her, then you're with me, and if you're not with either of us, you're at work!"

The red in his cheeks wasn't fading. Finn lowered his gaze to the ground. "Well…"

"You tell that bimbo at your office that you're in a relationship."

His gaze jerked up and he stared at her. "…_What_?"

"You heard me, Finn. I can't believe this. You've never done this before in your life."

"I've actually had these feelings for a really long time but…" Finn grasped her hand as she turned to stomp into the apartment building. "Okay you know what? If you knew who it was, you wouldn't be this angry."

Mercedes glanced down at their intertwined fingers and smirked. "You know me that well, huh?"

He pulled her close again, walking briskly to get them out of the chill. "Yeah, I'd like to think that I know you pretty well."

"Do I get to know who she is?"

"Yeah sure." Finn smiled mischievously. "Someday."

**_What if this is just the beginning  
>We're already wet, and we're gonna go swimming<em>**

"Yesterday she asked me to take time out of my work to fetch her a cheese danish. A _danish_, Finn! That woman can fetch her own damn danish! But you know what it comes down to? What it _really_ comes down to? The real reason why Lynda Handler treats me the way she does?" Mercedes laid her head on Finn's shoulder with a melancholy sigh. "She's jealous because I have an ass."

He stifled his chuckle and reached over their bodies to take her glass from her right hand. "I think you've had enough wine."

She closed her eyes with a sluggish nod. "This was a really good idea though. I needed this night. Tomorrow morning's gonna be hell when she comes in and realizes I didn't stay all night to finish that spread."

"Tell her to give me a call anytime and I'll tell her what she can do with that spread. But speaking of tomorrow morning…" Finn shrugged out from under Mercedes' head and stood, extending a hand toward her. "Let's get you in bed and set a _really_ loud alarm 'cause you're not gonna wake up easy from this." When she just looked up at him with one eyebrow raised, he let his hand drop back to his side. "You can't stand up, can you?"

Mercedes wrinkled her nose. "Not really?"

Of course his best friend was an adorable drunk. He leaned forward and easily scooped her up into his arms, grinning at her little squeal.

**_Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you  
>Why can't I speak whenever I talk about you<br>It's inevitable, it's a fact that we're gonna get down to it  
>So tell me<br>Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you_**

Finn peeked his head into Mercedes' bedroom door, coming in fully when he saw that she was dressed and sitting on the edge of her bed. "Just wanted to say goodnight and make sure you were all good."

"I'm good." She rubbed at her eyes tiredly. "Thinking about work tomorrow sobered me up a little. Are you going to bed too?"

"Yeah."

"Sleep in here tonight, okay?"

"Want me to?"

"Yeah." She stood and pulled back her bedcovers and sheets. "Keep me company."

He went around to the other side of the bed as she got in, turning off the floor lamp nearby. "Am I being Shane's placeholder tonight?"

Mercedes snorted. "You should be so lucky." She rolled over to lie on her side so that her back was facing him. "No, tonight you're just being _you_ holding _me_."

Sometimes he wondered if she told Shane about nights like this. Other times, he was hoping Shane would never find out. Finn lay down on his side as well, head propped up by his elbow. "Want me to sing you to sleep, 'Cedes?"

"The drummer sings the vocalist to sleep. I like it." She reached back to grab his free wrist and bring his arm across her waist.

"I was kidding. Please don't make me sing."

"I was kidding too. Please _don't_ sing."

"You could sing _me_ to sleep though. That's always an option."

Mercedes shook her head. "It's really not. Now hush and go to sleep."

Finn hushed but remained awake. The next day was his day off. There was no hurry or real motivation to fall asleep. Maneuvering his body until his head rested on his pillow, he brought his chin to rest lightly on the top of her head and simply listened to her breath as it gradually slowed.

**_Isn't this the best part of breakin' up  
>Finding someone else you can't get enough of<br>Someone who wants to be with you too_**

"I don't really understand."

"And that really doesn't surprise me." Finn leaned forward and placed a hand over Brittany's. "I won't give you some crap line about how it's me not you. Truth of the matter is this isn't working and I think we should end things now before someone gets hurt."

Brittany squinted her eyes at him, tilting her head to the right slightly. "And that someone who gets hurt…would that be me?"

"Probably. No actually, definitely. It would be you."

"Oh!" She straightened a little bit in her chair, not pulling away from his touch but instead extending her other hand to cover his. Her gaze was suddenly very serious as it searched his face. "Thank you for setting me free, Finn."

He glanced down at their hands. "You're welcome…I think."

"There's a woman who comes to the dance school. They say she's a potential benefactor after Mr. Lennox dies. She kissed me yesterday night after the students' recital." Brittany smiled, her blue eyes sparkling. "I really liked the way she kissed me."

It was this innocent glow that surrounded Brittany when she was truly happy that had drawn him to her in the first place. Ignoring the fact that he should probably be upset that some stranger had kissed his girlfriend, Finn nodded. "Tell her you're available. I hope things work out for you two. Let me know if she doesn't treat you right and I'll set her straight."

Brittany shook her head. "Don't worry about it! I think Santana could take you."

"Santana? Like…Santana Lopez?"

"Yeah!" Brittany's eyes widened. "Do you know her? Have you slept with her too?"

Finn groaned. Santana Lopez was even worse than Mercedes' boss Lynda, her influence in the city was magnified by the fact that she was young, ruthless, and rich. "Nope. Never even met her. But hey, no worries. I'll keep my distance."

She tightened her grip on his hand. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

Brittany glanced out of the large coffee shop window they were sitting beside, briefly taking in the busy flow of Chicago traffic before turning back to him. "I was right about you being in love with someone else, wasn't I? Who is it?"

"Mercedes." Finn released a slow breath. As long as he had been holding that information hostage, it was surprising how quickly he had answered. Maybe it was a sign that it was about time everyone knew. Especially her. He focused once again on Brittany's face, frowning at her expression of absolute disgust. "…Is there a problem with it being Mercedes, Britt?"

"She's your sister!" She leaned forward to whisper, "Isn't that a little bit wrong?"

**_It's an itch we know we are gonna scratch  
>Gonna take a while for this egg to hatch<br>But wouldn't it be beautiful_**

"Did that Neanderthal you live with keep you from finishing your work again? I'm assuming the spread remains incomplete."

Mercedes slowly looked up from her computer screen and into the steel blue eyes of her boss. Lynda Handler stood staring down at her, blonde helmet of hair kept out of her face by her Chopard sunglasses. Chopard sunglasses. She fought the urge to snatch them off of the woman's head and run out of the building to sell them for new furniture. Finn always said the apartment could use a facelift. She was pulled out of her thoughts with the lifting of a perfectly groomed blonde eyebrow. "The spread…yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes." She reached to the side and grabbed a hefty folder lying there on her desk. "The spread is here. Finished. I came in…" A glance at the clock on the wall told her it was nine o'clock. "…at six o'clock. And I finished the spread."

"You came in at six this morning to finish the spread?"

"Well, I…"

Lynda extended both hands, palm-up; Mercedes immediately gave her the folder. After flipping the front cover open and quickly scanning the first of Mercedes' designs for a magazine page, she gave a curt nod. "Mercedes, I must say…I feel as though I've been waiting years for you to exert yourself to your full potential."

Hold up. "I've only worked here for a year…"

"I see that you're finally prepared to stop disappointing me as an employee. Congratulations." Lynda placed the folder under her arm and turned to go to her office.

Mercedes stared after her. "Did that witch just…?" She jumped a little in her seat as her phone buzzed loudly on her desk, reaching for it even as she muttered, "I've _gotta_ start putting this on silent." Shane's smooth, deep voice greeted her and she smiled. "Hey baby. How's your day going so far?"

"Feel like I aced the exam I just took. My thesis is still beating my ass."

"Maybe tonight will give you a chance to relax for a while. Lord knows you don't need to be stressing yourself out before…"

" 'Cedes, I've…I've got some bad news about tonight, girl."

Smile gone. "Shane, don't you dare say what I think you're about to say."

"I've got work tonight. I…"

"Damn, Shane, you've got work every night!" Mercedes' gaze jerked up to Lynda's office to make sure she hadn't heard her outburst and moved so that her phone was hidden by the computer monitor. She lowered her voice to a hiss. "Are you serious right now?"

"Do you not _want_ me to work?"

"Oh you know good and well that the fact that you work is not the problem here. Am I going to see you at all in the next month?"

Shane groaned on the other line. "Baby, this is about priorities. I just..."

"So I'm not a priority. It's just work and study for you. I'm a distraction, is that it?"

"Don't start being dramatic though."

Mercedes' eyes widened and she ended the call with a stab of her finger. Just as quickly, she dialed another number, not even waiting for Finn to answer before speaking. "You're taking me out tonight."

He cleared his throat into the phone. "Sure. Same place that Shane would've taken you or…?"

"Surprise me but it better not be McDonald's."

"I think I can manage that."

"That better not be a personal call, Mercedes!" Lynda was standing at the door of her office, scowling down at her.

Mercedes lowered the phone from her ear, simultaneously ending the call, and shook her head. "Wouldn't dream of taking a personal call during work hours, Miss Handler. I was ensuring that your cappuccino will be here promptly at noon."

"Good." Lynda let out a long-suffering sigh. "Tell them I want it steaming this time. I can't stand to microwave coffee."

"Probably why you have _me_ microwave the coffee," Mercedes muttered, turning her attention back to her computer screen.

"What was that you said, Mercedes?"

"Nothing." She met her boss' gaze with her best fake smile. "Absolutely nothing."

**Be sure to leave a review/suggestion of what should happen next. I just need to get my creative juices flowing for the last part. Happy Holidays and God bless!**


	13. Why Can't I?: Part Two

**Author's Note:**And just like that, the fog of writer's block has lifted. It feels great to get back to writing after such a long time. I'll be reading reviews/messages and seeing if there are any song suggestions/plot ideas that I can make into new chapters, but as always, please share with me any ideas that you might have. Enjoy the chapter!

**_High enough for you to make me wonder  
>Where it's goin'<br>High enough for you to pull me under_**

Finn slid Mercedes' coat off of her shoulders while he asked the restaurant host for a table for two. She nodded gratefully, frowning slightly when the angular man in front of them said it would be a fifteen minute wait. "We'll call your name when your table is ready," he added. "What name would you like…?"

"Hudson," Mercedes quickly volunteered. She turned and took a seat in one of the chairs nearby.

Finn draped her coat across an arm and sat down too, smiling politely at the elderly couple sitting against the wall across from them. "Well, what do you think of my choice? It's not McDonald's."

"Nope. It's not McDonald's." In fact, it was as far from fast food as you could get. She scanned the restaurant with an expression akin to awe on her face. "Thanks, Finn. I really needed this."

He leaned toward her to playfully bump shoulders. "You know I'd do anything for my girl."

"How long have you two been together?"

They both slowly turned wide eyes from each other to the elderly woman who had spoken. Finn cleared his throat nervously. "We're not exactly…"

"Since childhood." Mercedes glanced toward him, eyebrows furrowing in confusion at the sudden anxiety on his face.

"She's asking how long we've been together as a couple, 'Cedes. She thinks we're dating…or married," he whispered.

Her eyes widened and she looked back, cheeks warming as the woman nodded in confirmation. "Oh! No! We're not…Finn's my…We're friends. He's my best friend."

He was the best friend who sometimes shared her bed. He was the best friend who lied every day, telling himself that he didn't feel anything for her beyond being the best friend. Finn flushed under the intense blue gaze of the elderly woman's husband; the man hadn't looked away from him the entire time. Clearly, his feelings were showing. Either he needed to become a better liar or something needed to change. Mercedes' fingers intertwined with his as she spoke to the woman, telling her about her career and answering questions about how she liked life in Chicago. He looked down at their hands with a small smile. Something would change. And tonight was the night.

**_Somethin's growin'  
>out of this that we can control<br>Baby I am dyin_**

"You didn't have to order the champagne, Finn." Mercedes couldn't even hide her excitement as the waiter poured the golden liquid into their glasses. She leaned forward and whispered, "Can we even afford champagne?"

He waited until the waiter had walked out of earshot to shrug. "Not really. But tonight's about splurging. We're celebrating."

She raised a brow. "Celebrating? What could we possibly be celebrating? Shane ditching me for a paper? My bitch of a boss making me feel like I've done nothing right for her in the past year?" A mischievous twinkle came into her eyes as she smirked. "Or maybe it's not about me at all. Are we celebrating your freedom from Brittany?"

"In a way, I suppose we are."

"So what are you going to do now, Mr. Hudson? Have you already started dating that whore from work?"

Finn almost choked on his sip of champagne. He shook his head after clearing his throat for a moment. "Trust me, 'Cedes, she's not from work and she's definitely not a whore."

"But you are dating her." Mercedes bit her lower lip as he gave another shrug. "Well, congratulations."

"I didn't say I was dating her!"

"Well you _should_ date her."

There was a pause as Finn just searched her eyes with his own, grinning at the vulnerability he saw there. "You really think I should?"

"You deserve to be happy." She held his gaze for only a moment longer before shifting her attention to her glass of champagne. She took a long sip, purposely looking anywhere but his face.

Finn tilted his head to the side. "Something wrong?"

She immediately looked back at him, eyes narrowing as her expression changed to suspicion. "I will have to screen her first."

"Screen her?"

"Yeah, screen her." Mercedes absently twirled her fork in her bowl of fettuccine alfredo while keeping her eyes on him. "You didn't let me meet Brittany before you asked her out, and now look at your life. She left you for Santana Lopez."

He frowned. "Hold on a minute. Brittany and I had a _mutual_ understanding of what was going wrong with our relationship and made a _mutual_ decision to…"

"Santana Lopez is hot and rich, and now she's dating Brittany. Look at your life."

"I guess you're just going to have to trust that I'm making a good choice."

"Trust you? Is it because you don't want me to meet her? Are you actually going to hide her from me?" Mercedes raised a finger and wagged it in the air with a chuckle. "You can't hide her, Finn. She's gonna have to come to the apartment sometime and I just happen to live there too." He shrugged and stayed silent. After thoughtfully chewing her forkful of pasta, Mercedes sighed. "You could at least tell me about her, couldn't you?"

A few vague descriptions couldn't really hurt anything. A corner of Finn's lips tilted upward and he gave a slow nod. "I could tell you a few things about her." Mercedes clapped her hands happily and lightly at her little victory. Finn chuckled. "She's beautiful, of course."

"Oh of _course_," Mercedes cynically repeated. "At least tell me you've picked someone who has some brains to go along with all that attractiveness this time."

His smile broadened at the memory of Mercedes meeting Brittany for the first time. The amount of side eye throughout that conversation was phenomenal. "Her mind is part of what makes her beautiful."

"So you can have a legitimate conversation with her, and she can go toe-to-toe with you when you're in one of your moods."

"Exactly."

"And she can deal with you when you're acting like an idiot?"

"When do I act like an idiot?"

One of Mercedes' eyebrows quirked upward. "You have your moments, Finn. But hey, please continue. Does she have a job? What does she do?"

"She's an assistant."

"An assistant. That's pretty vague." She shrugged when he didn't expand upon that job title. "…_Okay_. What else can you tell me about her?"

"Well…" Finn busied himself folding and refolding the napkin in his lap. "I just…love being around her. She has such an amazingly unique outlook on life. No matter what she goes through, no matter what happens, she works hard to rise above it. I don't know what it is about her sometimes. She has so much spirit. It's practically magnetic. Anyone would be crazy _not_ to fall in love with her." This had gone far enough. Finn's hands were suddenly clammy; he hurriedly wiped them against his pant legs and reached out to gently hold Mercedes' wrists, stilling her hands as she began to raise her glass again. "Basically…she's you." Mercedes tilted her head to the side, just blinking at him.

After a long moment of silence had passed, Finn slowly withdrew his hands. That was it. He had been honest with her and he had blown it. She didn't feel the same way. Right now she was probably thinking of a nice way to say that he needed to get the hell out of their apartment. Mercedes was with Shane after all. They were going through a rough patch, sure, but that didn't mean that she wanted to complicate things by living with someone who had unreciprocated feelings for her. His heart dropped further as he became aware of the sheen of tears forming in Mercedes' eyes. Great. He broke her.

She waved a hand reassuringly at the sight of his distressed expression. "No. Sorry. You're probably wondering why I'm getting emotional right now."

"It's fine." He cleared his throat and physically shrugged it off. "I guess I just wanted you to know…"

Her lips parted to reveal a dazzling smile. "That was truly the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, Finn Hudson. Thank you so much."

Gradually allowing himself to smile despite his confusion, Finn nodded. "You're welcome. Mercedes, you know I've always felt this way about…"

"And if this girl is all the things you've said she is, I wish you guys all the happiness in the world."

"Wait…what?"

"Sometimes I can't believe how sweet you are." Mercedes picked up her fork and shook her head. "The fact that you could describe her in such a lovely way and then say that she and I are practically the same person…"

"No, you're not _practically_ the same person. You're the exact same…"

"Invite her over. Really, Finn. I'll bake a cake. We'll celebrate the two of you finding each other."

He leaned forward against the table. "I don't think we're on the same page here." Mercedes frowned and also leaned forward, waiting for him to continue. "You see, I wasn't saying…I was trying to…" Finn let out a thoroughly exasperated breath. "Never mind."

She winked and scooted back in her chair. "I keep telling you that it's a waste of time trying to argue with me. When do you think she could come over?"

He slumped back in his own seat, shaking his head. "I don't know. I guess I'll let you know."

"Excellent!"

* * *

><p><strong>Freshman Year<strong>

** "**_Why aren't you trying out?" Mercedes leaned back against the bank of lockers and wrapped her arms around herself. "I wouldn't be as nervous if you were doing this with me."_

_ "__Oh no, no, no." Finn turned from placing his American Lit textbook in his locker. "Mr. Schuester has always creeped me out. You know this."_

_Her laughter was strained, revealing all the anxiety she was feeling. "C'mon, it's not like you have to be his best friend or anything. You'll just have to sing in front of him."_

_Finn couldn't even hide the shudder that went through his body. "I'll have to sing love ballads and listen to his weirdly enthusiastic approval. Do you know the way this ends, Mercedes? It ends with me being his only friend despite the fact that I'm in high school, helping him pick out wedding rings because he has no one else who would give him a hand. I'm not going to put myself in that situation. I know nothing about wedding rings."_

_Mercedes' mouth opened and closed twice as she processed his ramblings. Finally, she placed a reassuring hand on his arm. "You had that dream again?"_

_Finn rolled his eyes and closed his locker. "Make all the jokes you want. Glee club isn't my calling; it's yours. Coach Tanaka made it clear to everyone on the team that we can't do glee club and football, and I think I have a shot at making captain someday. Why are you so nervous anyway? You're gonna blow everyone away."_

_She bit her lower lip and looked up at him hopefully. "You really think so? He's used to voices like Rachel Berry's." _

_ "__Right. So the man's starved for real talent." He nudged her with an elbow, grinning at the snort that escaped from her as she laughed. "Go in there and knock Pedo Will's socks off."_

_ "__Don't call him that!" Mercedes gave his arm a light smack and quickly hugged him. "Okay. I'm going in."_

_ "__I'll be right here."_

* * *

><p>She didn't really want to screen the new girlfriend. Mercedes glanced down at her phone at the sound of its vibrating, narrowing her eyes when she saw that it was Shane. No matter how amazing he described the woman as being, the idea of Finn dating someone new didn't fill her with joy. In fact, it almost made her feel downright resentful despite all of the glowing comparisons he had made earlier at dinner. "I mean, why take a copy when you could get the original?"<p>

"Did you say something?" Finn came from the kitchen to sit next to her on the couch.

Her eyes widened. Did she say that out loud? "What? No. Nothing." She took the glass of wine that he held out to her. "Thank you."

He took a long drink of his beer, placing an arm across her shoulders. "Did you have a good night?" His eyes were immediately drawn to her phone, still incessantly vibrating beside her on the couch. "Is that still Shane?"

"It is."

"Are you planning on answering him?"

Mercedes suddenly shifted so that she could face him. "Finn, do you really think you should be in a new relationship so soon? Are you ready? What exactly are your intentions with this girl? Have you thought about that? What if she wants something more than you're wanting? What if you're starting something that you won't be emotionally prepared to finish?"

He blinked. "Um…what?" She shifted back to her original position as he stared at her. "That was a lot of questions. Why did you just ask so many questions?"

"No reason. Forget it."

"I mean, you asked those so fast, I'm pretty sure I _have_ forgotten." He continued to stare at her, and then, slowly, a grin appeared on his face. If he couldn't make her understand his feelings by saying them clear as can be, perhaps he could her understand her own feelings. That was assuming she had any feelings. He was pretty sure that she did. "Y'know, if I wasn't so certain that you're _madly_ in love with Shane, I would have to say that you might be a little upset at the idea of not having me all to yourself."

She pursed her lips and shook her head firmly. "And_I_ would have to say that you must have lost your mind. I just want you to make good choice."

"Oh, that's what you want?"

"Yes."

"As in, you want me to choose a woman who I can see myself settling down with some day."

"…Yes."

"Someone who absolutely loves me, sees through my flaws, would ride or die for me."

"Did you just say 'ride or die'?" Mercedes shrugged. "But yeah, someone like that."

"A good choice," he repeated, deliberately drawing out each word.

"Yes!"

"A good choice like you?"

"Yes, Finn!" Her eyes widened as she realized her slip-up. "_No_, Finn." He watched as she jumped to her feet and began pacing in front of the couch. "Why would you even say that? I wasn't thinking that. Why were _you_ thinking that?"

He set his beer onto the coffee table and watched her with a subtle grin. "I was just saying what I thought you meant."

"Well, that's _not_ what I meant!" Her glass of wine was clutched tightly between her two small hands; she took sporadic sips from it every few steps. "We're friends, Finn. _Best_ friends. And sure, there are times that our relationship…crosses some lines. We've known each other so long; we're bound to have good chemistry. Sometimes I invite you to sleep in my bed with me..." Mercedes had just passed by him; now, she turned on her heel to face him. "But that's not sexual. You're adorably handsome, but I don't think of you that way. You just make me feel safe. Safe and warm. Safe, warm, and wanted." She blinked. "I…don't know why I can't shut up right now."

Finn patted the space on the couch next to him. "C'mon and sit down. You know it makes me dizzy when you pace like that."

She walked back but paused directly in front of him. "Finn…I don't think of you in that way."

He looked up at her, took a breath, and nodded. "Okay, Mercedes."

Before she even fully realized that she was moving, Mercedes had walked forward until their feet were touching. With another blink, she was bending at the waist, leaning forward until her lips were tentatively brushing his. Finn tilted his face upward to increase the pressure of their mouths touching, deepening the kiss. He allowed his hands to stroke the smooth skin of her arms before settling them on the curve of her behind.

He had been right. This was the night everything would change.

* * *

><p><em>Finn heard the choir door open once more and stood from his seat against the hallway lockers. Mercedes emerged like a burst of energy; in a moment, her short frame was crushed against his larger one, arms wrapped around him like a vice. He barely choked out a surprised laugh. "So it went well?"<em>

_She beamed up at him. "After I finished singing, Mr. Schue said that I was the best audition so far. He already has solos lined up for me. Solos, Finn! Singing by myself center-stage! Can you imagine?"_

_He managed to get his arms out from under hers so that he could instead wrap them around her. "Of course I can imagine. Center-stage is exactly where you belong." _

_Mercedes placed her hands on his shoulders to provide balance as she got onto her tip-toes and quickly pressed her lips against his. "Thank you, Finn!" The sudden ringing of her phone caught her attention, and after a quick glance at the screen, she gave his hand a quick squeeze. "My mom's outside. I'll see you tomorrow!"_

_Stunned into silence, he watched her run down the hallway. "Yeah. You're very welcome."_

* * *

><p><strong><em>It's inevitable, it's a fact that we're gonna get down to it<br>So tell me  
>Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you<em>**

Mercedes slowly raised her gaze from her plate at the feeling of being scrutinized from across the table. Shane leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "There's those pretty eyes. Y'know, I reserved a table at this fancy restaurant so I could finally spend some quality time with my lady. But I don't think you've looked up this entire dinner." When her only response was to nervously bit her lower lip, he frowned. "Babe, what's the matter? I thought this was what you wanted."

"I'm glad you could take a night off. I really am." She bundled up the napkin that she had spread across her lap and set it on the table. "Shane, I need to tell you something."

He glanced at her napkin before nodding. "Go ahead."

"Two nights ago, when you cancelled our date…I had Finn take me out."

If anything, so far Shane was unimpressed and unaffected by her news. He shook his head. "You've got to stop treating that guy like he's some kind of replacement for me. He'll start thinking you've got feelings for him, and then you'll have to try to let him down easy. I keep telling you that your relationship just isn't healthy."

"We've known each other for so long…"

"Is that an excuse to string him along like you are? You're gonna break his heart one day, Mercedes. C'mon now, that's not what something a longtime friend should do."

Mercedes held up a hand when he started to continue. "I kissed him. I kissed Finn." Shane slowly closed his mouth; she lowered her gaze back down to her plate. "It shouldn't have happened. I just got a bit carried away."

One of his eyebrows rose. "Did you sleep with him?"

Her gaze snapped back up to his face. "No!" A few of the restaurant's patrons turned to look at their table, and she lowered her voice again. "No, Shane, I didn't sleep with him."

"Let me guess, it was out of loyalty to me."

She narrowed her eyes at the indifference in his voice. "Yes, actually it was. We kissed, and I ran away. Finn and I haven't spoken to each other in two days. The apartment is so tense now."

"Yeah, I'm sure your world is falling apart now that you can't talk to your best friend."

"I know you're upset but you have to believe that I didn't intend…"

"Didn't intend what?" Shane placed his own napkin on the table. "You show him more affection than you've _ever_ shown me, girl. I'm surprised it's taken you so long to do what I saw coming the first time I met him."

Mercedes sighed, slowly nodding her agreement. "What do you want to happen now?"

Shane looked at her for a moment in silence and then stood from the table. "I want you to stop this damn charade and go be with the guy you were supposed to be with this entire time."

"You…what?" She stared up at him in disbelief. "You want me to be with Finn?"

"More importantly, _you_ want to be with Finn. So stop being loyal to me and start being loyal to yourself. Come on. I'll drive you back to the apartment." He held out a hand to her.

She slowly took it and followed him out to the car, silently praying that it wasn't too late.

**_Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you  
>Why can't I speak whenever I talk about you<em>**

He finally made out with the woman of his dreams, and she ran into her bedroom. Then, she refused to talk to him. Finn sank down on the stoop of his apartment building with a shrug. It wasn't as though he expected her to immediately leave Shane, and he certainly did expect there to be a little bit of awkwardness between them. Still, the last thing he wanted was for their friendship to be jeopardized, and that was exactly what happened. Having Mercedes in his arms was everything he dreamt it would be, yet he would gladly give up the chance of it happening again if it meant that his best friend would speak to him again.

Shane's car drove up and paused in front of the apartment building. The passenger door opened, and Finn frowned when Mercedes did not immediately get out of the car. After a brief exchange with Shane, she pecked his cheek and exited. Finn resisted the urge to rise and run to her. If the last few days had taught him anything, it was that she would rather hide out in her bedroom than speak to him.

As Shane drove away and Mercedes slowly approached, he warily met her gaze. "Hey."

A small smile graced her lips. "Hi Finn."

"Lynda called you. She's got another spread she wants you to look over in the morning."

"Okay." A moment of silence passed, and Finn stood. Mercedes reached out a hand to grasp his as he turned to go back inside, and he stilled. "I shouldn't have run from you the other night. I'm sorry."

He glanced down at their hands. "No need to apologize. I understand why you did. You said you didn't feel that way toward me, and you didn't. It won't happen again."

"But I want it to."

"You…want it to," Finn repeated incredulously.

"I do." She went up to the step above his so that they were almost the same height. "And I want us to try…whatever it is we've been heading toward since the first day we met."

"And Shane…?"

"He understands. You might even say he gave his blessing." Leaning forward, Mercedes planted small kisses along his jawline. "And I know it's been hard not speaking to each other for the past couple of days, but I don't think we'll be doing much talking tonight."

He kissed her lips, smiling against her mouth. "I'm sure anything else we need to say can wait until tomorrow morning."

"Good."

**_It's just like we were meant to be_**

**Leave reviews and suggestions for future chapters! Thank you for reading!**


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